Ukrainian investigators arrive at site of missile strike in Poland

Investigators from Ukraine have visited the site in Poland where a missile landed earlier this week, causing the death of two people. They joined Polish and American experts seeking to ascertain the nature and cause of the incident.

Initial, unofficial reports identified the strike as being by a missile fired by Russia. But, subsequently, the Polish, US and NATO authorities announced that it was most likely caused by Ukrainian air defence systems responding to Russia’s mass wave of attacks on Ukraine on Tuesday.

Ukraine initially rejected such claims. But that position softened slightly yesterday, when President Volodymyr Zelensky admitted that he “does not know 100%” if the missile was Russian, as he had previously insisted.

Yesterday, Jakub Kumoch – the head of Polish President Andrzej Duda’s international policy office – told broadcaster TVN24 that Ukraine had asked for access to the site of the explosion in the village of Przewodów, which is less than 10 kilometres (6 miles) from the Polish-Ukrainian border.

This afternoon, Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba confirmed that their experts had arrived and were working at the site. He thanked Poland for granting access and pledged “continue our cooperation in an open and constructive manner, as closest friends do”.

Polish broadcaster RMF24 later reported that the Ukrainian team had left after spending around three hours in Przewodów.

Although both Ukrainian and US experts have had access to the site and evidence gathered from there, Poland has ruled out the possibility of sharing overall responsibility for the investigation.

“Obviously information from the Ukrainian side can help and is very important to us,” Paweł Soloch, an advisor to Duda, told Radio Plus. “On the other hand, Ukraine, like any other country, will not co-lead the investigation, because it is our Polish investigation…supported by the US.”

RMF reports that Polish prosecutors have been in touch with their Ukrainian counterparts to discuss cooperation, which will also involve experts from Poland visiting Ukraine to gather evidence.

Soloch cautioned that issues surrounding Tuesday’s tragedy should not hinder Poland’s and other allies’ support for and cooperation with Ukraine as it defends itself from Russian aggression.

Kumoch also emphasised that, while Poland believes the incident was caused by Ukraine’s air defences, Ukrainians should not interpret this as meaning that “their country has been accused somehow”.

“The fault is not on Ukraine’s side,” he told TVN24. “No one denies Ukraine the right to defend itself.” Kumoch added that Zelensky’s initial statements blaming Russia for the strike were “understandable [in] a country that is in a state of war”.

Main image credit: Jakub Szymczyk/KPRP

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.