The downing of a missile in the village of Prtsevodov near the Ukrainian border puzzles both the Polish government and NATO. For Poland’s army leadership, however, one thing is absolutely clear: the air defense system is not equipped to protect the country’s entire territory.
The deadly missile hit in Poland’s border area with Ukraine could not have been prevented by the NATO country’s missile defense system, according to the Polish General Staff. The systems’ mission is to protect critical infrastructure, the army command announced via Twitter.
Żadna armia nie dysponuje systemem obrony powietrznej, który chroni terytorium całego kraju. Atak rakietowy charakteryzuje się punktowym uderzeniem w wybrany cel, a nie niszczeniem wielu celów na dużych obszarach. Zadaniem systemów jest m. in. obrona infrastruktury krytycznej.
— Dowództwo Generalne (@DGeneralneRSZ) November 16, 2022
“No army has an air defense system that protects the entire territory of a country. A missile strike is characterized by hitting a selected target with pinpoint accuracy rather than destroying multiple targets over large areas.”
According to the Polish government, a “Russian-made missile” had hit the eastern Polish village of Przewodow six kilometers from the border with Ukraine on Tuesday. It killed two people on a farm.
Poland, a neighbor of Ukraine, is a member of the EU and the Western defense alliance NATO. According to a NATO spokesman, representatives of NATO member states will meet this Wednesday at Poland’s request. The meeting will be held on the basis of NATO’s Article 4, he said. Article 4 states that NATO members consult each other when, for example, a member’s security is threatened.
Missile probably fired from S-300 system
Poland’s National Security Council BBN is also reconvening at 12 p.m. to discuss the missile’s impact and the consequences. The BBN is currently analyzing the agreements reached so far with commanders, service chiefs and allies, BBN head Jacek Siewiera announced on Twitter. The body had already met Tuesday evening after the first reports of the missile strike. On Wednesday morning, Poland’s President Andrzej Duda said that, in his view, there was currently no concrete indication of who had fired the missile.
U.S. President Joe Biden, on the other hand, said that there are now very strong indications that the projectile was an anti-aircraft missile from Ukraine. Biden said this at a meeting with other heads of state and government of NATO and G7 countries in Bali. He is said to have spoken of a missile of the S-300 system.
Moscow denied reports that the Russian military was responsible for the impact and spoke of a “provocation.” No targets in the Ukrainian-Polish border area were fired upon, the ministry said. It also said that the photos of alleged debris circulated in Polish media had nothing to do with Russian weapons systems.
