WARSAW: Two people were killed in an explosion in Przewodow, a village in eastern Poland near the border with Ukraine, firefighters said on Tuesday as Nato allies investigated reports that the blast resulted from Russian missiles.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki called an urgent meeting of a government committee for national security and defence affairs, government spokesman Piotr Muller said on Twitter.

The Associated Press earlier cited a US intelligence official as saying the blast was due to Russian missiles crossing into Poland. But the Pentagon said it could not confirm that account. The White House also said it could not confirm reports coming out of Poland and was working with the Polish government to gather more information.

The defence ministry in Moscow denied reports that Russian missiles had hit Polish territory, describing them as “a deliberate provocation aimed at escalating the situation”.

It added in a statement: “No strikes on targets near the Ukrainian-Polish state border were made by Russian means of destruction.” The Kremlin did not immediately respond to requests for comments.

Latvian Deputy Prime Minister Artis Pabriks said on Twitter that Russia “fired missiles which target not only Ukrainian civilians but also landed on North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) territory in Poland”.

Published in Dawn, November 16th, 2022