Early Tuesday afternoon, AlertsUSA subscribers were notified of a missile strike in the Polish village of Przewodów, located four miles west of the Ukrainian border. The Polish foreign ministry confirmed the strike, which killed two workers at a grain processing site, cut power to large portions of tiny Moldova, and raised concerns across Europe of a dangerous escalation in the conflict.
Such a missile strike would mark the first time in the war that Russian munitions have impacted within a NATO country. Readers are reminded that under Article 5 of the NATO treaty, “an attack against one ally is considered as an attack against all allies,” thus raising the prospect that Poland’s fellow NATO members may be obliged by treaty to come to its defense.
A short time later AlertsUSA subscribers were notified of a security alert issued by the U.S. State Department warning U.S. citizens of a continued heightened threat of missile attacks across Ukraine, including in the capital.
On Wednesday, an emergency meeting was held by the North Atlantic Council, NATO's main decision-making body, to discuss Tuesday's missile strike in eastern Poland.
Addressing the media following that meeting, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated the following:
"An investigation into this incident is ongoing, and we need to await its outcome.
But we have no indication that this was the result of a deliberate attack. And we have no indication that Russia is preparing offensive military actions against NATO."
"Our preliminary analysis suggests that the incident was likely caused by a Ukrainian air defence missile fired to defend Ukrainian territory against Russian cruise missile attacks."
"But let me be clear. This is not Ukraine's fault.
Russia bears ultimate responsibility, as it continues its illegal war against Ukraine.
Watch the press conference HERE (Timestamped)
Also on Wednesday, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley chaired the 7th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, a gathering of more than 50 nations and organizations providing arms, training and other support to Ukraine.
In comments to the press following that meeting, General Milley stated the following:
"While assessments are ongoing, yesterday's strikes looked like they launched at least 60 missiles and they may have launched upwards of 90 or even perhaps 100, and we'll have better assessments in the days ahead. But it was likely the largest wave of missiles that we've seen since the beginning of the war."
"These missiles, again, they targeted intentionally and damaged civilian power generation facilities to cause unnecessary suffering with the civilian population. We assess now that over a quarter of Ukrainian civilians are without power."
"The deliberate targeting of the civilian power grid, causing excessive collateral damage and unnecessary suffering on the civilian population, is a war crime. With the onset of winter, families will be without power, and more importantly, without heat. Basic human survival and subsistence is going to be severely impacted and human suffering for the Ukrainian population is going to increase."
Watch the press conference HERE (Timestamped)
In related news:
Former Russian President, Prime Minister and current deputy chairman of the country's powerful Security Council, Dimitry Medvedev, went on a social media tirade on Wednesday of this week, calling proposals to prosecute Russia for war crimes “legally void,” and any attempts to do so would “potentially threaten the existence of mankind.” He went onto say that the idea of punishing a country that has major nuclear potential is "absurd in itself.”
Medvedev also argued that Russia should not be held accountable for slaughtering thousands of civilians in Ukraine because the U.S. military did the same in Afghanistan, Syria, Vietnam and elsewhere.
AlertsUSA continues to monitor the domestic and international threat environment around the clock and will immediately notify service subscribers, via SMS messages to their mobile devices, of new alerts, warnings and advisories or any developments which signal a change the overall threat picture for American citizens as events warrant. |
