Ukraine supports further investigation of missile incident in Poland and requests access to site

Ukraine is advocating for a further joint detailed investigation into the incident in which a missile fell in Poland and is requesting immediate access for Ukrainian investigators.

Source: Oleksii Danilov, the Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine (NSDC), after a meeting of the Staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief on 16 November; press service of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine

Quote: "We are advocating for a further detailed investigation into the incident [to be run jointly by Ukraine and Poland – ed.]. We are ready to provide our partners with all the evidence we have of the Russian trail. We are also waiting for our partners to give us the information on the basis of which it was concluded that the missile came from Ukraine’s air defence. 

In addition, Ukraine is asking that representatives of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine and the State Border Service of Ukraine be given full access to the explosion site immediately. 

We are completely open to a comprehensive exploration of the situation and coordination of conclusions based on all of the available information."

Details: The NSDC stressed that Russia alone and its missile terror are to blame for what happened. 

The Kremlin is constantly trying to escalate the conflict in order to cause the maximum number of civilian casualties and destroy Ukraine’s critical infrastructure. There can be no other explanation for such missile incidents.

The Ukrainian government therefore reiterates that only the development of an efficient air shield over Ukraine's territory can ensure the safety of Central Europe. 

Previously: Yurii Ihnat, spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force, stated that the Ukrainian Air Force was prepared to provide all the information it has and send specialists in order to establish the truth about the missile that landed in Poland.

Background: 

• On Tuesday, 15 November 2022, Russia carried out its largest missile attack on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure. The Russians launched one hundred missiles. 77 were shot down by the Ukrainian air defence. 
• A missile fell in a Polish village near the border with Ukraine, killing two people. Poland urgently convened a meeting of the Committee of the Council of Ministers for National Security and Defence, at which it was decided to improve the combat-readiness of particular units and consider invoking NATO Article 4. 
• Polish media reported that visual analysis of the fragments of the missile that landed in Poland on 15 November during Russia’s large-scale missile strike on Ukraine indicated that it could be a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile.
• It was later reported that the US has suggested that the missile could have been launched by Ukrainian air defence. Several world leaders made statements blaming the Russian Federation, which is at war with Ukraine, for the tragedy.  
• On 16 November, Polish President Andrzej Duda stated that the explosions in eastern Poland on Tuesday were an accident and that Warsaw did not consider the missile incident to be an attack on the country. He added that the missile that fell in Poland was an S-300, probably one "that Ukrainian forces had used" as they were repelling Russia’s missile attacks yesterday.

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