The source of a missile that killed two people in the Hrubieszów district of Poland last night has still not been determined, with government officials urging caution and restraint as investigators continue their work.

In a statement issued late last night, the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) claimed that “a Russia-made missile” had “dropped into the village of Przewodów” in the Hrubieszów district of the Lubelskie province. According to the statement, Minister of Foreign Affairs Zbigniew Rau officially summoned the ambassador of the Russian Federation and was demanding an “immediate and detailed explanation.”

Polish President Andrzej Duda was more cautious in later comments to reporters and on social media, saying it was “most likely a Russian-made missile,” but there was no concrete evidence showing who fired the missile.

At the G20 summit in Bali, US President Joe Biden cast doubt on the claim that the missile had been fired from Russia, saying “it is unlikely in the lines of the trajectory that it was fired from Russia, but we’ll see.”

The Associated Press later published an article claiming that initial findings suggested that the missile that hit Poland was fired by Ukrainian forces at an incoming Russian missile, citing US officials it did not name.

Source: Radio Poland, Radio Gdańsk, gov.pl, Reuters

Polish President Andrzej Duda has expressed his condolences to the relatives of two citizens who “died as a result of an explosion, most likely a rocket, which fell on our territory 6 km from the Polish-Ukrainian border.”

Duda spoke late last night after an emergency meeting of Poland’s top security officials and conversations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, US President Joe Biden, and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. Duda later announced it was “highly probable” that Poland would submit a request to activate Article 4 of the NATO Treaty after a scheduled meeting on Wednesday.

Article 4 calls for consultation among NATO member states, declaring that “the Parties will consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the Parties is threatened.”

Although the Polish armed forces have been placed on high alert, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and other Polish officials have urged citizens to remain calm, “be prudent…and not let ourselves be manipulated. We need to be ready to face fake news and propaganda efforts.”

Source: Radio Gdańsk, guardian.com, nato.int, gov.pl

Russia fired dozens of missiles against Ukraine on Tuesday in a new wave of attacks targeting critical energy infrastructure in Kyiv and other major cities.

The missiles hit residential buildings in central Kyiv, killing at least one person in the central Pechersk district and leaving at least half of the capital’s residents without electricity, according to the Ukrainska Pravda website.

The deputy head of the president’s office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, assessed that the situation across Ukraine was “critical” after missiles struck energy facilities, leading to emergency shutdowns. Parts of the capital Kyiv were thrown into darkness, with conditions becoming “extremely difficult,” according to Tymoshenko.

The situation was mirrored across the country, with the Washington Post reporting that at least six major cities were targeted during yesterday’s strikes, including Kharkiv in the east and Lviv in the west.

Source: Radio Poland, Reuters

The obligation to wear a mask in pharmacies, clinics, and hospitals will be extended until the end of March 2023, according to Polish health officials.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Health Minister Adam Niedzielski confirmed the government’s intent to extend mask requirements through the winter flu season. As Niedzielski went on to point out, wearing masks in places “where sick people gather” protects not only against COVID but against influenza and respiratory viruses like RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus).

While the current scale of COVID infections is in line with government forecasts and “does not pose a threat to the health care system,” according to Niedzielski, data on influenza and other respiratory tract infections shows a more worrying trend.

In the first week of November alone, some 100,000 cases and suspected cases of influenza were reported in Poland, with over 400 people hospitalized due to the illness.

Data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control shows similar worrying trends across Europe, with France, Germany, and Ukraine reporting the regional spread of the influenza virus, with cases expected to rise headed into peak flu season from January to March.

Source: Radio Gdańsk, www.ecdc.europa.eu

Weather

Today will be cool and mostly cloudy, with very little chance of rain and a light breeze coming in from the east. Temperatures will peak around a high of only 6°C, or 42°F, dropping to below freezing at -2°C or 29°F overnight. Similar weather is expected for tomorrow, with temperatures continuing to drop and the possibility of snow over the weekend.

Elizabeth Peck