What the Przewodów missile blast meant on 17 November 2022
A look back at the days after a missile killed two people in eastern Poland, and what was established about its origin.
What was known about the missile that hit Poland by 17 November 2022? Two days earlier, on 15 November 2022, a missile strike killed two people in the village of Przewodów in eastern Poland, near the border with Ukraine.
By then, the US president, Joe Biden, had said the blast was caused by a Ukrainian air defence missile. US officials had earlier told the Associated Press that preliminary findings suggested Ukrainian forces fired the missile at an incoming Russian missile.
The explosion came during Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure. Ukraine had initially accused Russia of striking Poland, while the United States said the missile was likely a Ukrainian air defence missile fired at an incoming Russian one.
What followed
The incident was the first in which a foreign missile hit NATO territory during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The American assessment was later confirmed: in September 2023, the Polish Prosecutor's Office stated that the explosion was caused by an out-of-control Ukrainian S-300 air defence missile.
