KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy on Tuesday decried an apparent Russian missile strike that hit neighboring NATO member Poland as “a very significant escalation” of the war.
Zelenskyy’s comments, delivered in an evening address to the nation, came hours after a senior U.S. intelligence official told The Associated Press that Russian missiles had crossed into Polish territory and killed two people. If confirmed, the strike would mark the first time in the war that Russian weapons came down on a NATO country.
A second person said that apparent Russian missiles struck a site in Poland about 15 miles from the Ukrainian border.
It was not clear whether Zelenskyy had direct knowledge of the strikes. The U.S. National Security Council said it was checking into the reports. A NATO official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the alliance was also investigating.
Polish government spokesman Piotr Mueller confirmed that an explosion had killed two people and said some military units were put on alert while officials sought details.
Polish media reported that the strike took place in an area where grain was drying in Przewodów, a village near the border with Ukraine.
The Russian Defense Ministry denied being behind “any strikes on targets near the Ukrainian-Polish border” and said in a statement that photosof purported damage “have nothing to do” with REarlier in the day, Russia pounded Ukraine’s energy facilities Tuesday with its biggest barrage of missiles yet, striking targets across the country and causing widespread blackouts. ussian weapons.
The barrage also affected neighboring Moldova. It reported massive power outages after the strikes knocked out a key power line that supplies the small nation, an official said.
The missile strikes plunged much of Ukraine into darkness and drew defiance from Zelenskyy, who shook his fist and declared: “We will survive everything.”
In his nightly address, the Ukrainian leader said the reported strikes in Poland offered proof that “terror is not limited by our state borders.”
"We need to put the terrorist in its place. The longer Russia feels impunity, the more threats there will be for everyone within the reach of Russian missiles,” Zelenskyy said.
Russia fired at least 85 missiles, most of them aimed at the country's power facilities, and blacked out many cities, he said.
The Ukrainian energy minister said the attack was “the most massive” bombardment of power facilities in the nearly 9-month-old Russian invasion, striking both power generation and transmission systemsThe minister, Herman Haluschenko, described the missile strikes as “another attempt at terrorist revenge” after military and diplomatic setbacks for the Kremlin. He accused Russia of “trying to cause maximum damage to our energy system on the eve of winter.” .