ESCALATION: Poland’s PM calls emergency security council meeting after Russian rocket fire leaves two dead
Two stray rockets hit the Polish town of Przewodow during an aggressive attack by Russian forces bombarding neighboring Ukraine with missile fire, killing two people. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Jakub Morawiecki called an emergency meeting of the Council of Ministers for National Security, signaling a potential invocation of NATO’s Article 5.
Article 5 provides that if a NATO Ally is the victim of an armed attack, each and every other member of the Alliance will consider this act of violence as an armed attack against all members and will take the actions it deems necessary to assist the Ally attacked.
⚡️⚡️⚡️BREAKING: Two stray rockets fell in the town of Przewodów in Poland on the border with Ukraine. They hit the grain dryers. Two people died.
Polish PM convenes an urgent meeting of the Council of Ministers for National Security.
Article 5 of NATO???
— Jason Jay Smart (@officejjsmart) November 15, 2022
The explosions occurred in a rural area, and while there is no confirmation on whether the attack was intentional it doesn’t bode well for Russia’s president Vladimir Putin.
EXPLOSIONS IN POLAND
– Przewodów, village near Ukraine
– Explosions hit farm in rural area
– 2 people died at the scene
– Possibly caused by missiles
– Government calls emergency meeting
– Poland is a NATO member state
– No word yet from the government— BNO News (@BNONews) November 15, 2022
Just before reports of the casualties, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken praised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who demonstrated a willingness to a just and diplomatic end to the war on his country. Putin however, responded by increasing his attack.
.@ZelenskyyUA demonstrated leadership again today by making clear he is prepared for diplomacy toward a just end to the war Russia started. Russia's response was another wave of missiles. These attacks will not break Ukraine’s will—we will be with Ukraine for as long as it takes.
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) November 15, 2022
Poland has taken in millions of Ukrainian refugees since Putin invaded the sovereign county in February, with an estimated 20,000 more arriving daily, according to The New York Times.
In early March President Zelensky and top Ukrainian officials repeatedly asked NATO to establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine to stop Russia’s aggressive attacks on the country’s cities, but their requests were refused, citing diplomatic reasons amid fears that doing so would only escalate into a full-fledged world war.
“”The only way to actually implement something like a no-fly zone is to send NATO planes into Ukrainian airspace and to shoot down Russian planes, and that could lead to a full-fledged war in Europe. President Biden has been clear that we are not going to get into a war with Russia,’ Blinken said during a news conference Friday in Brussels where he is meeting with European allies,” CNN reported.
But that feeling may now be moot.
As a member of NATO, Poland is well within its rights to invoke Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization – which has been used only once in NATO history after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
President Zelensky warned of what could happen by giving what he called a “green light” for Russia to continue bombing Ukraine, and it appears his fears were warranted. NATO’s apprehensions may have all been for naught.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon has said it is aware of the reports about the missile strike on Polish territory and is attempting to corroborate them.
“We are aware of the press reports alleging that two Russian missiles have struck a location inside Poland or the Ukraine border,” Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder announced.
“We have no information right now to corroborate that there has been a missile strike,” Ryder said, while confirming that the Pentagon was “looking into this further.”
This is a developing story.
Follow Ty Ross on Twitter @cooltxchick
