A senior U.S. intelligence official says Russian missiles crossed into NATO member Poland, killing two people, according to the Associated Press.
Polish government spokesman Piotr Mueller did not immediately confirm the information, but said top leaders were holding an emergency meeting due to a “crisis situation.”
“In earlier versions of a story published November 15, 2022, The Associated Press reported erroneously, based on information from a senior American intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity, that Russian missiles had crossed into Poland and killed two people,” the AP’s correction issued Wednesday said. “Subsequent reporting showed that the missiles were Russian-made and most likely fired by Ukraine in defense against a Russian attack.”
The Associated Press fired a reporter Monday who mistakenly reported that a missile had hit Polish territory Tuesday was Russian, the Daily Beast reported.
“The AP routinely seeks and requires more than one source when sourcing in anonymous,” the AP’s statement of news values and principles says, adding that the use of a single source is sufficient in “rare cases” where the source is “an authoritative figure who provides information so detailed that there is no question of its accuracy.”
Polish media reported that two people died Tuesday afternoon after a projectile struck an area where grain was drying in Przewodów, a Polish village near the border with Ukraine.
According to the Jerusalem Post, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki convened an urgent meeting of the Committee of the Council of Ministers for National Security and Defense Affairs on Tuesday, with initial reports indicating that stray Russian missiles may have hit a town near the border with Ukraine.
Polish media reported that two people were killed in an explosion in the village of Przewodów, located near the border with Ukraine.
Polish Radio ZET station reported that two stray rockets fell on the town, causing the explosion.
The Pentagon told reporters that it was taking the reports “seriously and looking into them.
“Right now we are aware of the press reporting on this and we have no information at this time to corroborate those reports,” Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said. “I don’t want to speculate or get into hypotheticals when it comes to our security commitments.
“We’ve been crystal clear that we will defend every inch of NATO territory,” he said in reference to 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
President Biden has repeatedly said the U.S. will be steadfast in its support for Poland or any NATO member nation in the face of Russia’s aggression.
Correction: The AP Originally Reported That This Missile Was A Russian Missile, When In Fact It Was A Ukrainian Missile, and Accident.
Russia battered Ukraine’s energy facilities Tuesday with its largest barrage of missiles yet, striking targets from east to west and “causing widespread blackouts” according to the Associated Press.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shook his fist and declared, “We will survive everything.”
Zelenskyy said Russia fired at least 85 missiles, “most of them at our energy infrastructure,” and shut down power in many cities.
“We’re working, will restore everything. We will survive everything,” the president vowed. His energy minister said it was “the most massive” bombardment of power facilities in the nearly 9-month-old Russian invasion.
The aerial assault, which resulted in at least one death in a residential building in the capital, Kyiv, followed days of euphoria in Ukraine sparked by one of its biggest military successes — the retaking last week of the southern city of Kherson.
Zelenskyy said around 20 more strikes might be on the way. He urged people to stay safe and seek shelter.
This is a developing story.
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