Biden speaks with Polish president after report of deadly Russian missile strike

A White House spokesperson says US officials are ‘working with the Polish government to gather more information’

President Biden has spoken with Polish President Andrzej Duda, as US officials were working with Polish authorities to gather information after reports that Russian missiles had struck Polish territory, killing two civilians on Tuesday.

President Joe Biden spoke with President Andrzej Duda of Poland from Bali early Wednesday local time, according to the White House.

Russia denied it had fired the missiles into Poland, calling the claims a “provocation”.

The explosion in Przewodow, a village in eastern Poland near the border with Ukraine, came following Russian missile attacks directed at Ukrainian territory as part of an escalation following the Russian withdrawal from Kherson last week.

According to the Associated Press, a US intelligence official said the explosion was the result of Russian missile attacks. Because Poland is a Nato member, a Russian attack on Polish territory could draw the entire alliance into war because of the North Atlantic Treaty’s mutual defence clause known as Article Five.

The White House said it was not immediately able to confirm the reports coming out of Poland, but stressed that officials were working with the Polish government to determine what has transpired.

“We've seen these reports out of Poland and are working with the Polish government to gather more information. We cannot confirm the reports or any of the details at this time,” said National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson in a statement.

Speaking at the daily State Department press briefing, deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel also said US officials are still in the process of determining what happened in consultation with Polish officials.

“I don't want to speculate about any hypotheticals just yet,” he said. “We will determine what happened and we will determine appropriate next steps”.

Pentagon spokesman Air Force Brig Gen Patrick Ryder, speaks during a briefing at the Pentagon in Washington (AP)

At the same time, Russian officials have denied that any of their weapons were used in the attack which resulted in the death of two people on Nato territory.

Russia’s defence minister said in a statement that “no strikes” near the Poland-Ukraine border had been carried out by Russian-made weapons.

The Russian defence ministry said the reports about Polish casualties were “a deliberate provocation with the aim of escalating the situation”.