CNN
The missile landed outside the rural Polish village of Przewodow, about four miles (6.4 kilometers) west from the Ukrainian border on Tuesday, roughly the same time as Russia launched its biggest wave of missile attacks on Ukrainian cities in more than a month.
The circumstances surrounding the incident, which marks the first time a NATO country has been directly struck during the almost nine-month conflict, remain unclear. It is not known who fired the missile, or where it was fired from, though the Polish Foreign Ministry has described it as “Russian-made.”
Biden said he briefed others gathered on his discussions with Polish President Andrzej Duda and with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
In comments earlier Tuesday, Duda noted that while it was not clear who launched the missile, it was “most likely” produced in Russia. “We are working calmly and in a very calm manner,” Duda said during an address from the Bureau of National Security in Warsaw.
The Kremlin has denied involvement in the explosion, with Russia’s Defense Ministry calling the reports by Polish media, who first reported the deaths,”a deliberate provocation in order to escalate the situation,” according to a short statement late Tuesday.
It added that the photos of wreckage published by Polish media “from the scene in the village of Przewodow have nothing to do with Russian weapons.”
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told CNN he had no information on an explosion in Poland.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Tuesday that evidence suggests the missile that landed in Przewodów was a “single act” and there is no evidence of further missile strikes.
But while urging calm, Morawiecki said Poland wpuld increase its military readiness and was contemplating the activation of Article 4 of the NATO Treaty. Article 4 is a consultation method that allows members of the 30-country alliance to bring an issue — usually about security — for discussion at the North Atlantic Council, its decision-making body.
Whatever the outcome of the Polish-led investigation, the incident has reinforced longstanding concerns related to the risk of battlefield miscalculation triggering NATO-Russian conflict.
