Polish president says missile strike was likely Ukrainian and not ‘intentional attack’

Volodymyr Zelensky has “no doubt” that a missile which landed in Poland and killed two people was fired by Russia.

The Ukrainian President contradicted statements by Nato, Poland, the US and UK – all of whom say it likely came from Ukrainian air defences attempting to protect the country from Russian bombardment.

Speaking to reporters, Mr Zelensky said: “I have no doubt that this is not our missile. I believe that this was a Russian missile, based on our military reports.”

The incident is still under investigation, but Polish President Andrzej Duda asserted earlier today: “Ukraine’s defence was launching their missiles in various directions and it is highly probable that one of these missiles unfortunately fell on Polish territory.”

There was no suggestion that this was a deliberate attack, said Nato Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg.

The new claims by Mr Zelensky are likely to sow more confusion about the strike in Przewodow – and could cause friction between Ukraine and its allies if they have opposing views on what happened.

In any case, Russia bears “ultimate responsibility” for the missile, said Mr Stoltenberg has said, echoing a statement made by UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Both men said attention must be paid to why Ukraine is being forced to defend itself in the first place.

The British prime minister said the “most important thing” to recognise in the wake of the attack is that Ukraine is being forced to use missiles to “defend its homeland”.

“It is having to defend its homeland against an illegal and barbaric set of strikes by Russia,” he said at the G20 summit in Bali.

Mr Sunak added that it was important to focus on the “continued barbaric activity of Russia in bombarding the Ukrainian people in their civilian infrastructure”.