Russian missiles crossed into Poland, killing two, says U.S. official

A senior U.S. intelligence official says Russian missiles crossed into NATO member Poland, killing two folks.

Polish authorities spokesman Piotr Mueller didn’t instantly affirm the knowledge, however stated high leaders have been holding an emergency assembly on account of a “crisis situation.”

Polish media reported that two folks died Tuesday afternoon after a projectile struck an space the place grain was drying in Przewodów, a Polish village close to the border with Ukraine.

Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder stated he had no info proper now. 

“We are aware of the press reports alleging that two Russian missiles have struck a location inside Poland near the Ukraine border,” Ryder instructed reporters on the Defense Department Tuesday. “I can tell you that we don’t have any information at this time to corroborate those reports and are looking into it further.”

National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson was additionally unable to verify the stories however stated in a statement that the U.S. is “working with the Polish government to gather more information,” and “will determine what happened and what the appropriate next steps would be.” NATO can be coordinating with Poland, based on a spokesperson.

Russia pounded Ukraine’s power amenities Tuesday with its largest barrage of missiles but, hanging targets throughout the nation and inflicting widespread blackouts.  

A defiant Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy shook his fist and declared, “We will survive everything.”

The Russian Defense Ministry denied duty for the strikes. “No strikes were made against targets near the Ukrainian-Polish state border by Russian means of destruction,” it stated in a press release. 

Zelenskyy stated Russia had fired a minimum of 85 missiles, “most of them at our energy infrastructure,” and shut down energy in lots of cities.

The aerial assault, which resulted in a minimum of one demise in a residential constructing within the capital, Kyiv, adopted days of euphoria in Ukraine sparked by certainly one of its largest army successes — the retaking final week of the southern metropolis of Kherson.

The energy grid was already battered by earlier assaults that destroyed an estimated 40% of the nation’s power infrastructure.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has not commented on the retreat from Kherson since his troops pulled out within the face of a Ukrainian offensive. But the gorgeous scale of Tuesday’s strikes spoke volumes and hinted at anger within the Kremlin.

By hanging targets within the late afternoon, not lengthy earlier than nightfall started to fall, the Russian army compelled rescue staff to labor at the hours of darkness and gave restore crews scant time to evaluate the harm by daylight.

More than a dozen areas — amongst them Lviv within the west, Kharkiv within the northeast and others in between — reported strikes or efforts by their air defenses to shoot missiles down. At least a dozen areas reported energy outages, affecting cities that collectively have tens of millions of individuals. Almost half of the Kyiv area misplaced energy, authorities stated. Ukrainian Railways introduced nationwide practice delays.

Zelenskyy warned that extra strikes have been attainable and urged folks to remain protected and search shelter.

This is a creating story.

Eleanor Watson, Ed O’Keefe and Camilla Schick contributed to this report.