Summary

  • The Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg says the blast in Poland late on Tuesday was likely to have been caused by Ukraine's air defence systems

  • He echoed the words of Poland's President Duda, who also said there was no sign that the missile hit was part of an intentional attack

  • Two people were killed after a missile landed in eastern Poland following a wave of Russian strikes across Ukraine

  • US President Joe Biden has also said it was "unlikely" that the missile was fired from Russia

  • The American reaction earned rare praise from Russia - with a Kremlin spokesman describing it as "restrained and professional"

  1. What to expect from Nato press conferencepublished at 11:27 Greenwich Mean Time 16 November 2022

    Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will give a press conference shortly, after an emergency meeting of Nato ambassadors to discuss the Poland missile strike.

    Hopefully he will tell us where Nato thinks the missiles came from, and what, if anything, the bloc’s response will be.

    Many commentators have surmised that the meeting was requested by Poland under Article 4 of the Nato treaty., external

    This says that members will consult together when any of them think their “ territorial integrity, political independence or security” is threatened.

    However, a spokesperson for the German foreign ministry has said this wasn’t the case.

    Hopefully more will become clear in the press conference.

  2. Blast 'very likely' caused by Ukrainian air defence - Polish presidentpublished at 11:23 Greenwich Mean Time 16 November 2022
    Breaking

    More now from a press conference by Polish President Andrzej Duda.

    He says it's "very likely" that a missile explosion in a Polish village late last night was caused by Ukrainian air defences.

    Ukraine was attempting to defend against a barrage of Russian strikes. It has denied it was to blame for the blast in the Polish village.

  3. Blast seems to have resulted from Ukrainian air defence - Belgiumpublished at 11:19 Greenwich Mean Time 16 November 2022

    The blast in Poland late last night - which killed two people - appears to be "a result of Ukrainian air defense", the Belgian defence minister says.

    However, Ludivine Dedonder says the suspicion remains "to be confirmed".

    Ukraine earlier refuted suggestions that it was to blame for the explosion.

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  4. No sign of intentional attack - Polish presidentpublished at 11:15 Greenwich Mean Time 16 November 2022

    There is no sign that the missile that hit a village was an intentional attack on Poland, President Andrzej Duda has said.

    Instead, it was probably an "unfortunate incident".

    Andrzej DudaImage source, Getty Images
  5. What's been happening?published at 11:09 Greenwich Mean Time 16 November 2022

    Three Polish police officers walk through a fieldImage source, Getty Images
    Image caption,

    Polish police search a field near the site of a missile explosion

    There have been a number of twists and turns since a missile exploded in Poland yesterday. There are now suggestions that it might have been fired by Ukraine as the country tried to defend itself from Russian airstrikes.

    Here's a summary of key events to catch you up:

    • Leaders of countries in the Nato military alliance broke off from a G20 summit to hold emergency talks after a missile landed in Poland late on Tuesday
    • The missile exploded in Przewodow - a village near the Ukrainian border - killing two civilians
    • Russia denies it was culpable, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was quick to blame his enemy in the ongoing war
    • But Kyiv's allies have been more cautious with their language. The Nato chief described the explosion as a "tragic incident". US President Joe Biden said the missile was "unlikely" to be Russian - a response which earned rare praise from Russia. UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said it was important to "establish the facts"; other Western countries took a similar position
    • The hit occurred after Russia fired dozens of missiles on Ukraine on Tuesday - its most intense bombardment since invading in February
    • There are suggestions that the missile which landed in Poland might have been fired by Ukraine as it attempted to defend against the deadly strikes - something Ukraine has denied
    • The G20 summit has wrapped up in Indonesia, with leaders of the world's major economies agreeing a statement that denounced the war in Ukraine
  6. Russia praises US response to Poland missilepublished at 10:56 Greenwich Mean Time 16 November 2022

    Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has praised the US for its response to the landing of a missile in Poland yesterday.

    Speaking during a daily press conference, Peskov accused Poland and "a whole line of other countries" of reacting "hysterically" to the incident, accusing Russia of being responsible for it without any evidence.

    In contrast, Peskov praised the US's response to the incident, after President Joe Biden said it was "unlikely" that the missile was Russian.

    "It’s worth noting the restrained and much more professional reaction of the American side and the American president," Peskov said.

    Russia's defence ministry also said its recent bombardments of Ukraine were only carried out on targets within the country and were at least 35km (21 miles) from the Polish border.

    Spokesman Igor Konashenkov added that "the falling of alleged 'Russian missiles'" in the Polish village of Przewodow "are a deliberate provocation with the aim of escalating the situation".

  7. Let's await the results of the investigation, says Macronpublished at 10:44 Greenwich Mean Time 16 November 2022

    The French leader has issued his own note of caution over last night's missile explosion in Poland, while speaking to reporters at the conclusion of the G20 summit in Indonesia.

    Like other Western leaders, Emmanuel Macron refuses to assign any blame, noting that "there is an investigation to fully understand what happened".

    Macron says there is "a distinction" between the blast in Przewodow - the cause of which remains unclear - and the barrage of Russian strikes on Ukraine on Tuesday.

    Asked by reporters if this explosion, too, could be a Russian attack intended as a "provocation" to the West, Macron says he's "not sure".

    Russia denies it fired the missile, and there are suggestions it could in fact have been shot by Ukrainian air defence systems.

  8. Poland and Nato avoid blaming Russia for missilepublished at 10:17 Greenwich Mean Time 16 November 2022

    As we've been reporting, leaders of Nato countries are holding an emergency meeting to respond to last night's missile hit in Poland.

    So far, the Western military alliance - and the Polish government itself - have avoided blaming Russia.

    Both the Nato chief and the Polish president have called the hit - which killed two people - a "tragic incident".

    That's in keeping with an earlier position outlined by US President Joe Biden. A short time ago, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said it was important to establish the facts of what happened.

  9. PMs Sunak and Trudeau: Full investigation neededpublished at 10:04 Greenwich Mean Time 16 November 2022

    UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at G20 summit in Bali, IndonesiaImage source, PA Media

    UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky by phone from Indonesia earlier, according to a Downing Street spokesman.

    The two leaders emphasised the importance of conducting a "full investigation" into the circumstances behind missiles falling in Poland yesterday, and stressed that whatever the outcomes of the investigation, Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine "is squarely to blame for the ongoing violence".

    The two also expressed their condolences for the "terrible loss of life" as a result of Russian attacks on Ukraine overnight, and "underscored their enduring support" for Ukraine, which President Zelenzky thanked them for.

  10. Polish police share picture of missile craterpublished at 09:54 Greenwich Mean Time 16 November 2022

    A lot of our reporting has been to do with the reaction across the world following a missile that fell in Poland yesterday.

    World leaders say investigations are ongoing to establish who is responsible for the missile, which killed two people.

    Polish police have shared a picture this morning showing police securing the area, now a crater, where the missile hit.

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  11. Day passing normally near site of Polish missile hitpublished at 09:43 Greenwich Mean Time 16 November 2022

    Dan Johnson
    Reporting from Poland

    BBC map shows the site of a missile hit in Poland, near the Ukrainian borderImage source, .

    It’s impossible to get to the site where a missile landed in Poland - police have blocked the road about 500m away from where we believe the a local grain farm was struck.

    There is a large media presence at this very remote site just 10 miles (16km) from the Ukrainian border. There is a small primary school right by the cordon, where the day seems to be passing as normally as can be.

    Przewodow is a very small village, one of many dotted through this green, agricultural part of Poland.

  12. Poles left terrified and shocked - Polish politicianpublished at 09:36 Greenwich Mean Time 16 November 2022

    As G7 and Nato leaders are called to an emergency meeting after a missile hit Poland yesterday, killing two people, a Polish opposition party politician says the incident has left Poles "terrified" and "shocked".

    Speaking to the BBC, Michael Kobosko, vice president of Polish opposition party Polska 2050, says that though Poland is on the border with Ukraine, people did not anticipate such an incident.

    He says he hopes the meeting of G7 and Nato leaders in Warsaw will give them more information regarding the incident - including what kind of missile it is.

    He adds, however, that regardless of whether the missile is Russian or Ukrainian, "it's the Russian who are to blame" for the incident, having launched a wave of attacks on Ukraine yesterday.

  13. G20 statement stronger than expected - expertpublished at 09:29 Greenwich Mean Time 16 November 2022

    Tessa Wong
    Reporting from Bali

    One of the big questions of the G20 summit was whether members would agree to any kind of unified condemnation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

    For some observers, it appeared unlikely given that Russia is a member state and was not likely to agree to anything that amounted to reprimanding itself, nor would China and India.

    In the end, the statement said that "most members" condemned the invasion and acknowledged that others had different views.

    But it also deliberately included the phrasing used in a UN declaration, which "deplores in the strongest terms the aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine and demands its complete and unconditional withdrawal from the territory of Ukraine". The statement framed it as one of the positions taken by member states.

    The inclusion of this wording meant that in the end the statement was "much stronger and specific than I had expected in my most optimistic moments" and a "major breakthrough", said political scientist John Kirton, the founder of the G20 Research Group.

    "This leaves no doubt that the entire G20 including Russia and its foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, recognise the reality that it was Russia started the war, that it committed an act of aggression and identified how the war would end.

    "Not only has Russia lost any veto it had over what the G20 says or does, it further means that China has abandoned Russia. Not only is there no longer any friendship without limits, there’s no friendship at all."

  14. What did we learn from Sunak's press conference?published at 09:19 Greenwich Mean Time 16 November 2022

    Rishi Sunak speaks at a press conference in IndonesiaImage source, Reuters

    UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke in Indonesia a short time ago, following the conclusion of the G20 summit.

    • He said it was important to "establish the facts" after a missile landed in Polish territory, killing two people. It remains unclear who is to blame for the hit, which happened late on Tuesday following a Russian bombardment of neighbouring Ukraine with missiles
    • The UK PM made multiple criticisms of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, accusing Moscow of "utter contempt" for international order - and blasting President Vladimir Putin for refusing to attend the G20 summit himself
    • In Putin's absence, the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was "confronted" by G20 leaders, Sunak reported
    • Sunak touched on the global economy, including inflation, and recessionary conditions for many countries - again blaming Russia for triggering issues such as food insecurity and rising energy prices
    • He also hailed the "positivity" of the two-day meeting of world leaders, as well as a communique - a joint declaration - that G20 leaders issued, which also condemned the war in Ukraine, and which was "substantive" and "comprehensive" according to Sunak
  15. UK and allies trying to get to the bottom of what happened in Polandpublished at 08:57 Greenwich Mean Time 16 November 2022

    Nick Eardley
    Chief political correspondent

    The prime minister has said the UK and its allies are still trying to get to the bottom of what happened in Poland overnight.

    Speaking at the G20 in Bali, Rishi Sunak said allies had agreed it was important for teams to "establish the facts".

    At a press conference, the PM did not repeat President Biden's words that it was unlikely the missile had come from Russia.

    But he did accuse Russia of showing "utter contempt" for the international system.

    He accused President Putin of launching indiscriminate attacks on civilians in Ukraine.

    Sunak said the UK would stand steadfastly behind the people of Poland, adding: "None of this would be happening without the Russian invasion of Ukraine."

  16. Sunak praises G20's statement that condemns war in Ukrainepublished at 08:50 Greenwich Mean Time 16 November 2022

    In a final question, Sunak is quizzed on how the UK will work with its partners to implement a declaration issued earlier by the G20.

    He responds with statements praising fellow leaders, including President Widodo of the host nation Indonesia. Sunak also praises the communique itself, which he says is "substantive, it's comprehensive, it's action-orientated, and it was by no means assured".

    The 16-page document agreed by the G20 nations included a condemnation of the war in Ukraine.

    Sunak says he hopes the "positivity" of the summit continues under India's forthcoming G20 presidency.

  17. Postpublished at 08:43 Greenwich Mean Time 16 November 2022

    Asked about domestic issues including inflation, Sunak makes a wider point about the global economy - saying issues being experienced worldwide mean he will have to take some "difficult decisions at home" in budget plans set to be announced tomorrow.

    Inflation, he says, is people's "number one anxiety" and is "the enemy we need to face down".

  18. 'Russia's contempt for international rules-based system'published at 08:37 Greenwich Mean Time 16 November 2022

    Asked about a missile landing in Poland, Sunak says the first thing he did was call the Polish president, Andrzej Duda, and "express sympathies" for the loss of life.

    He says he made a similar call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky following Russian strikes late yesterday.

    Sunak goes on to accuse Russia of "utter contempt for the international rules-based system".

    He once again calls out Vladimir Putin's "illegal and barbaric" war.

  19. Sunak says facts need to be established in Polandpublished at 08:37 Greenwich Mean Time 16 November 2022

    Media caption,

    We're establishing facts on Poland missiles - Sunak

    Talking about the missile that hit Poland last night, PM Sunak says it is important for the facts to be established.

    "All of us want to get to bottom of what happened," he says, adding that "it's right" that process is concluded.

  20. Sunak accuses Putin of 'casual disregard for human life'published at 08:35 Greenwich Mean Time 16 November 2022

    Turning to economic issues, Sunak continues by discussing the issue of high inflation - and the risk of recession for many of the world's countries, which are trying to recover from Covid.

    He blames the "one man unwilling to be at this summit - Vladimir Putin".

    Sunak says the whole world has been affected by the invasion of Ukraine ordered by the Russian president - citing issues such as food insecurity and a rise in energy prices.

    He accuses Putin of "casual disregard for human life".