Polish Prosecutor’s Office rejects participation of Ukrainians in investigating missile explosion

The Polish Prosecutor’s Office is not going to agree on engaging the Ukrainian side in the investigation of a missile’s explosion in the village of Przewodow where two men were killed on November 15.

Source: European Pravda; Polish news outlet Rzeczpospolita.

"There is no such legal possibility, and this would contradict a procedure, let alone the interests of the investigation. Within its framework, all possible versions are being considered, including the one where an anti-aircraft missile landed from Ukraine," said the outlet’s sources that are close to the investigation.

The sources added that behaviour of politicians that were deceiving the public by saying that not only Ukrainians but also Americans were defendants in the case was surprising; nothing like that was happening.

The news about Ukrainian experts arriving in Przewodow on Friday afternoon went viral in all media outlets. Dmytro Kuleba, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine posted the relevant message on his Twitter the same evening.

"Ukrainian experts are already working at the site of the tragedy in Przewodów caused by Russian missile terror against Ukraine. I am grateful to the Polish side for granting [us] the access. We will continue our cooperation in an open and constructive manner, as closest friends do," he wrote.

Ukrainian investigators arrived in the village of Przewodow after Polish investigators finished their examination, and they could see the site, as well as fragments of a missile and a crater. However, they have not conducted any procedural actions as the Polish law restricts it (just like Polish investigators cannot conduct evidence-based activity in another state; they can be "passive observers" at most). 

There are more serious inaccuracies. Jakub Kumoch, the Head of the International Policy Bureau in the Chancellery of the President of Poland, reported in an interview with TVN 24 that a Polish-American investigation group was working in Przewodow and Ukrainians had also asked to get access to the investigation. "If both sides agree, and, as far as I know, there will be no objection from the American side, such access can be granted in the near future. If an investigation group does not have concerns at a technical level, there will probably be no ground to refuse," he said.

However, there were no American experts at the site; they provided access to classified materials from the AWACS system. 

Decisions on the investigating process and its directions are being made solely by the Polish Prosecutor’s Office. Even Jacek Siewiera, Head of the National Security Bureau of the Republic of Poland, has admitted that, even though the participation of Ukrainian observers was possible, this did not mean they were going to take part in the investigation, explaining that "it requires compliance with justice and related procedures."

The participation of the Ukrainians would be possible within the framework of an International Commission of Inquiry, but it has not been created yet.

"Polish citizens were killed. The investigation is carried out by the Polish Prosecutor’s Office and Polish services. At the moment, there are negotiations going on regarding the development of cooperation principles, including the matters of transferring materials and exchanging evidence," the sources informed. 

The investigation is conducted by the Mazovian Department for Fighting Organised Crime and Corruption of the National Public Prosecutor’s Office [Mazovian Voivodeship is a province in eastern-central Poland – ed.]. 

Previously: An explosion rang out in a Polish village near the border with Ukraine on 15 November, soon after Russia started launching missiles on Ukraine en masse. Due to this, the meeting of the National Security Council of Poland was initiated. At first, it was assumed that a Russian missile fell in Przewodow. Non-official reports also said that there could have been two missiles. Preliminary conclusions of Polish and American experts confirmed that it was most probably a missile fired by a Ukrainian air defence system.

Polish President Andrzej Duda called the explosion an accident on 16 November. He also stated that he could understand Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy when the latter stated that the missile was a Russian one.

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