{"id":62707,"date":"2022-11-16T19:44:35","date_gmt":"2022-11-16T19:44:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2022\/11\/16\/pentagon-says-poland-blast-likely-caused-by-ukrainian-missile\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:45:52","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:45:52","slug":"pentagon-says-poland-blast-likely-caused-by-ukrainian-missile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2022\/11\/16\/pentagon-says-poland-blast-likely-caused-by-ukrainian-missile\/","title":{"rendered":"Pentagon says Poland blast likely caused by Ukrainian missile"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2015 Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin<\/a> became the latest U.S. official to back Poland\u2019s preliminary conclusion<\/a> that a fatal missile strike in Poland<\/a> did not appear to be intentional and was probably launched by air defenses in neighboring Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have full confidence in the Polish government\u2019s investigation of this explosion. And they\u2019ve been conducting that investigation in a professional and deliberate manner,\u201d Austin told reporters Wednesday, echoing a statement from the White House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re still gathering information but we have seen nothing that contradicts [Polish] President [Andrzej] Duda\u2019s preliminary assessment that this explosion was most likely the result of a Ukrainian air defense missile that unfortunately landed in Poland. And whatever the final conclusions may be, the world knows that Russia bears ultimate responsibility for this incident,\u201d Austin said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also speaking with reporters after a routine virtual meeting of nearly 50 defense chiefs to discuss Russia\u2019s invasion<\/a>, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley<\/a>, said that U.S. experts in Poland are assisting with its investigation and that \u201cour information supports\u201d Poland\u2019s findings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Austin\u2019s comments came as NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg<\/a>, at a meeting of the 30-nation military alliance in Brussels, also supported the preliminary Polish findings. Earlier, Duda said: \u201cThere is nothing, absolutely nothing, to suggest that it was an intentional attack on Poland.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The initial assessments of Tuesday\u2019s deadly landing of the Soviet-era missile appeared to dial back the likelihood of the strike triggering another major escalation in the nearly nine-month-old Russian invasion of Ukraine. If Russia had deliberately targeted Poland, that could have risked drawing NATO into the conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy<\/a> disputed the preliminary findings and demanded evidence, saying Ukrainian officials should take part in the probe. He told reporters he had \u201cno doubts\u201d about a report he said he had personally received from his top commanders \u201cthat it wasn\u2019t our missile or our missile strike.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amid Russia\u2019s missile and drone salvos against Ukraine\u2019s infrastructure, including power stations, the Pentagon-led Ukraine Contact Group has pushed to bolster Ukraine\u2019s air defense systems. On Tuesday, Russia launched its biggest wave of missile attacks on Ukrainian cities in more than a month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Milley said air defense capabilities will be \u201ccritical\u201d for Ukraine\u2019s success and that the country needs an integrated air and missile defense system to repel Russian aerial attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russia\u2019s launch of between 60 and 100 missiles \u201cwas likely the largest wave of missiles that we\u2019ve seen since the beginning of the war,\u201d Milley said after the Pentagon hosted the seventh meeting of the group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Milley accused Russia again of war crimes for its strikes on civilian sites, saying a quarter of Ukrainian civilians are without power, according to the Pentagon\u2019s assessment.<\/p>\n\n\n\t