Russian ambassador ignores EU state’s summons

Warsaw claimed that a Russian projectile violated Polish airspace, but refused to provide evidence, according to the diplomat

The Polish Foreign Ministry has summoned Russian Ambassador Sergey Andreev over yet another alleged “missile incident,” but the diplomat decided such a meeting would be pointless as long as Warsaw refuses to back its repeated accusations with factual data.

The Polish military claimed on Sunday that a Russian air-launched cruise missile briefly entered the country’s airspace for roughly 40 seconds at 4:23am near the southeastern village of Oserdow. Warsaw said it would “demand explanations” from Moscow.

“This morning I was invited to the Polish Foreign Ministry to meet with one of the deputy ministers,” Andreev told Sputnik on Monday. The Russian ambassador noted that Warsaw had already voiced similar accusations before, and that Moscow is still waiting for any proof to back those claims.

“Since I understood from the response of my Polish colleagues that there would be no evidence this time as well, I decided that in this situation the meeting would be pointless and declined the invitation,” Andreev stated.

The Russian Defense Ministry reported during a briefing on Sunday that its warplanes had carried out strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, but has not commented on the Polish allegations.

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Mystery ‘missile’ enters Polish airspace

On December 29, Poland claimed that a Russian missile briefly entered the country’s airspace before veering back over Ukrainian territory. Back then, the Russian charge d’affaires called the claim “unsubstantiated,” adding that Poland will not receive any explanations until it provides evidence.

A similar incident in November 2022 was initially blamed on Russia – but Polish investigators concluded in September 2023 that the projectile that hit the border town of Przewodow, killing two farmers, was in fact a stray Ukrainian anti-air missile. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky initially blamed the incident on Russia and demanded a response from NATO, before the leaders of the US-led military bloc publicly stated that the missile was Ukrainian.