Poland hit with two missiles leaving two dead Russia denies its missiles have hit Poland

Russia denies its missiles have hit Poland The Polish government is holding an urgent meeting for its national security and defence committee  The Pentagon says it cannot confirm reports that Russian missiles had crossed into the country. The US president says a missile that killed two people in Poland was probably not fired from within Russia. Joe Biden made the comments after holding talks with leaders of Western allies. Three US officials said preliminary assessments suggested Ukrainian forces fired the missile at an incoming Russian rocket amid the crushing salvo against Ukraine’s electrical infrastructure Tuesday. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the matter publicly. That assessment and Mr Biden’s comments at the Group of 20 (G20) summit in Indonesia contradict information earlier on Tuesday from a senior US intelligence official who told the AP that Russian missiles crossed into Poland. When asked about claims that the blast was linked to missiles fired from Russia, Mr Biden said: "There is preliminary information that contests that. I don't want to say that until we completely investigate it but it is unlikely in the lines of the trajectory that it was fired from Russia but we'll see." The US and NATO countries would fully investigate before acting, Mr Biden said. Media reports said the strike hit a grain-drying facility. Polish Radio ZET reported that two missiles hit the village of Przewodow, about 6 kilometres from the border with Ukraine, and killed two people, without giving further details. Russia's defence ministry denied reports that Russian missiles had hit Polish territory, describing them as a deliberate provocation. "No strikes on targets near the Ukrainian-Polish state border were made by Russian means of destruction," it said. Poland has no concrete evidence showing who fired the missile, the country's president said. "We do not have any conclusive evidence at the moment as to who launched this missile … it was most likely a Russian-made missile, but this is all still under investigation at the moment" Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he had no information on the explosion. The Polish foreign ministry said it had summoned the Russian ambassador over the incident. Poland increases military readiness Poland has decided to increase surveillance of its airspace, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Wednesday He also confirmed that Poland was studying the possibility of requesting consultations under Article 4 of the NATO military alliance treaty. Article 4 allows NATO members to bring any issue of concern, especially regarding security, for discussion at the North Atlantic Council. "The Parties will consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the Parties is threatened," it states. Government spokesman Piotr Muller said Poland was increasing the readiness of some military units, but declined to take any questions including about the cause of the incident. "It was decided a moment ago to increase the readiness of some combat military units in Poland and to increase the combat readiness of other units of uniformed services in our country," he said. US President Joe Biden has spoken with his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda in the wake of the blast, the White House said. "President Biden offered full US support for, and assistance with, Poland's investigation," the White House said after the pair spoke. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg also spoke with Mr Duda about the explosion. "I offered my condolences for the loss of life," he said on Twitter. "NATO is monitoring the situation and allies are closely consulting. [It's] Important that all facts are established." NATO and G7 countries said following an emergency meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Indonesia that they would remain in close contact to decide any possible reaction to the blast. "We agree to remain in close touch to determine appropriate next steps as the investigation proceeds," the leaders of the United States, Canada, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom said in a statement. "We offer our full support for and assistance with Poland's ongoing investigation," the statement added. Poland strike could lead to further military support for Ukraine Max Bergmann, who heads the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Europe program, noted that if the source of the explosion was confirmed to have come from outside Poland, such as from a missile, Russia could bear responsibility due to its instigation of the conflict. "Russia is firing cruise missiles into Ukrainian territory. And if Ukrainian air defence did go askew as the Russians are alleging … at the very least it is Russia [who is] responsible because they're the ones attacking a foreign country and firing missiles at a sovereign state," he said. Members of NATO are committed to collective defence under Article 5 of the treaty, so a Russian strike that hit Poland could risk widening the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which began with Moscow's invasion in February. "Article 5 would indicate that NATO, as an alliance as a whole, has universally agreed, and this would be all member countries, all 30 member states, that another state has attacked another member," Mr Bergmann said. Article 4 was a "step below" this, he said. "I think that's likely what we may see Poland initiate, which would indicate that Poland feels that it is threatened," he said. "And this is definitely the case if a missile has strayed into Polish territory, if it was not deliberate, then it's hard to describe that as an attack because it wasn't intentional. "But Polish sovereignty would still be threatened." Mr Bergmann said it was likely the origin of the missiles would be identified. "There's a lot of military intelligence satellites that are focused right now on the Ukrainian airspace, on the battlespace," he said. "There will also be technical analysis of the missiles. We can identify whether Ukrainian air defence was fired and then went astray." The crisis will likely boost support for Ukraine in its fight against Russia, Mr Bergmann said, including further military support. "I do think this will lead to more support for Ukraine and increased willingness to perhaps provide Ukraine with certain weaponry that the West has not yet provided," he said.