NATO’s Ukraine red line tested

There is no evidence a missile that slammed into a Polish border town near Ukraine was an intentional attack, Poland President Andrzej Duda said Wednesday. His comments came as the US and its allies scrambled in the early hours of Wednesday to determine whether Russia’s war in Ukraine was potentially expanding. 

👋 Hi, I’m Nicole Fallert with an update on Ukraine. 

The missile, which killed two people in a rural area in Poland, appeared to be Russian-made, Duda said. But officials concluded the missile was not part of a direct attack on a NATO ally.

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“Ukraine’s defense was launching their missiles in various directions and it is highly probable that one of these missiles unfortunately fell on Polish territory,” Duda said. “There is nothing, absolutely nothing to suggest that it was an intentional attack on Poland.”

© Omar Marques, Getty Images A police officer walks past a check point as permitted cars are allowed to cross into the crime scene on November 16, 2022 in Przewodow, Poland. Poland convened a meeting of its national security council amid reports that stray missiles hit its territory, killing two people. Russia’s defense ministry denied that its missiles hit the NATO member state, but moments after, Polish ministry confirmed it was a Russian-produced missile.

The news brought relief to NATO envoys who convened in Brussels Wednesday to discuss the nature of the strike. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said a preliminary analysis suggests the incident was likely caused by a Ukrainian air defense missile fired to defend Ukrainian territory against Russian cruise missile attacks.

He said NATO has “no indication that Russia is preparing action” against any of its 30 member countries. The blast came as Russia launched widespread aerial strikes across Ukraine and immediately sparked concern that Moscow might be broadening the war.

© Michal Dyjuk, AP A police officer checks a vehicle outside a grain depot where, according to the Polish government, an explosion of a Russian-made missile killed people, in Przewodow, Poland, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022.

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© SAUL LOEB, AFP via Getty Images US President Joe Biden (C) and other G7 leaders gather to hold an “emergency” meeting to discuss a missile strike on Polish territory near the border with Ukraine, on the side line of the G20 leaders’ summit in Nusa Dua, on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on November 16, 2022.

Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at USA TODAY. Want to send Nicole a note, shoot her an email at NFallert@usatoday.com. Support journalism like this –subscribe to USA TODAY here.

Associated Press contributed reporting.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NATO’s Ukraine red line tested