[UPDATE: Authorities in Poland now believe that this incident was caused by a Ukrainian missile defense system.]
The potential destruction emanating from the Russian invasion of Ukraine was never going to be limited to the battlefield; this much we knew. This conflict was always going to spill over into the rest of the world, possibly by design, as the fatalism displayed by Vladimir Putin has made it clear that this is his last affront to the global order of things.
But now there are fears that World War III is on the horizon after Russian missiles landed in NATO territory, prompting a great deal of talk about the enacting of Article 5 of the NATO charter.
Two people have been killed in Poland after two stray Russian rockets landed near the border with Ukraine.
The rockets landed in the NATO state following Russia’s mass bombardment of Ukrainian cities earlier today, which saw over 100 rockets launched.
According to the AP news agency, a senior US intelligence official said that the missiles were of Russian origin.
Poland’s Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, has convened the Committee of the Council of Ministers for National Security and Defense Affairs “as a matter of urgency”, government spokesman Piotr Müller confirmed, with local news sites claiming this is likely the result of the explosions.
The invasion has spilled over into other countries as well, albeit far less destructively.
Moldova, another neighbouring country of Ukraine, was also impacted by Russia’s massive missile attack today, after it caused a major electricity outage.
The country’s foreign minister, Nicu Popescu, called on Russia to “stop the destruction now”, highlighting that “every bomb falling on Ukraine is also affecting Moldova and our people”.
The global community has already been sickened by the news out of Ukraine, particularly as it pertains to the myriad of Russian war crimes being committed against Ukrainian civilians, and so allowing the western world to enter and end this brutal conflict should take too much convincing.
