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Biden Told US Partners that Ukraine Air Defense Missile Responsible for Poland Blast

Polish security officers cordoning off the blast site - EPA
Polish security officers cordoning off the blast site - EPA
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Biden Told US Partners that Ukraine Air Defense Missile Responsible for Poland Blast

Polish security officers cordoning off the blast site - EPA
Polish security officers cordoning off the blast site - EPA

US President Joe Biden told G7 and NATO partners that a missile blast in eastern Poland was caused by a Ukrainian air defense missile, a NATO source told Reuters on Wednesday.

The blast, which killed two people, raised global alarm that the Ukraine conflict could spill into neighboring countries.

For its part, Russia said that its Tuesday strikes were carried out on targets only on the territory of Ukraine, saying its military experts identified the rocket as fragments of a guided anti-aircraft missile of a Ukrainian S-300 air defense system, according to AFP.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that strikes were carried out at a distance of no closer than 35 kilometers from the Ukrainian-Polish border.

"Photographs of the wreckage... were unequivocally identified by Russian military experts as fragments of a guided anti-aircraft missile of a Ukrainian S-300 air defense system," the statement added.

Russian Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the American response had been "restrained" compared to that of other countries, stressing that Russia had nothing to do with the incident.

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Russia Says New US Base in Poland Raises Overall Nuclear Danger

FILE PHOTO: Delegates visit the deck house of the American ballistic missile defense base to be integrated into the \"Aegis Ashore\" missile defense system, on the day of its inauguration in Redzikowo, Poland, November 13, 2024. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Delegates visit the deck house of the American ballistic missile defense base to be integrated into the \"Aegis Ashore\" missile defense system, on the day of its inauguration in Redzikowo, Poland, November 13, 2024. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File Photo
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Russia Says New US Base in Poland Raises Overall Nuclear Danger

FILE PHOTO: Delegates visit the deck house of the American ballistic missile defense base to be integrated into the \"Aegis Ashore\" missile defense system, on the day of its inauguration in Redzikowo, Poland, November 13, 2024. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Delegates visit the deck house of the American ballistic missile defense base to be integrated into the \"Aegis Ashore\" missile defense system, on the day of its inauguration in Redzikowo, Poland, November 13, 2024. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File Photo

Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that a new US ballistic missile defense base in northern Poland will lead to an increase in the overall level of nuclear danger and was on a Russian targeting list for potential destruction if necessary.
The air defense base, situated in the town of Redzikowo near the Baltic coast, part of a broader NATO missile shield, was opened on Nov. 13.
"This is another frankly provocative step in a series of deeply destabilizing actions by the Americans and their allies in the North Atlantic Alliance in the strategic sphere," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
"This leads to undermining strategic stability, increasing strategic risks and, as a result, to an increase in the overall level of nuclear danger."
The US base at Redzikowo is part of a broader NATO missile shield, dubbed "Aegis Ashore", which the alliance says can intercept short- to intermediate-range ballistic missiles.
"Given the nature and level of threats posed by such Western military facilities, the missile defense base in Poland has long been added to the list of priority targets for potential destruction, which, if necessary, can be executed with a wide range of advanced weapons," Zakharova said.
The NATO missile shield includes sites in Poland, Romania as well as US navy destroyers at a naval base in Spain and an early warning radar in Türkiye, according to NATO.