What happened in the past hours
On the 266th day of the war that Russia started against Ukraine, here is the key data at 8:00 pm on Wednesday, November 16:
Poland says there is no evidence that the missile that exploded on its soil was a deliberate attack by Russia. On Wednesday, the President of Poland, Andrzej Duda, stated in a press conference that there is no evidence that the missile that hit his land yesterday, causing two deaths, was a deliberate attack by Moscow. According to Duda, it is a Russian-made device, but there is no evidence that it was launched by the Kremlin forces. In addition, the Polish president said it was “highly likely” that the missile was launched by the Ukrainian Air Force in an attempt to shoot down a Russian missile.
NATO notes that the missile that hit Poland came from the “Ukrainian air defense system”. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, on Wednesday from Brussels, referred to the open crisis after a missile hit Poland on Tuesday, that is, in the territory of the Atlantic Alliance. “Our initial analysis indicates that the incident may have been caused by a Ukrainian defensive missile launch to defend Ukrainian territory from Russian attacks. But let’s be clear: This is not Ukraine’s fault. Russia has a responsibility to continue its illegal war against Ukraine.”
Zelensky insists that the explosion in Poland was not caused by a Ukrainian missile. Today, Wednesday, the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, insisted on his conviction that the missile that fell on Tuesday in a Polish town near the Ukrainian border, killing two people, was not fired by his armed forces. “Without a doubt, it was not our missile,” Interfax-Ukraine quoted him as saying. Zelensky claimed that his information comes from his military, especially his air force, and that he believes them.
Ukraine asks the West for access to the site where the missile exploded in Poland. On Wednesday, Ukraine requested access to the place where a missile exploded yesterday in Poland. Oleksey Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said this afternoon that Kyiv wanted to join Western teams investigating the incident on Tuesday to see the information that led its allies to conclude the missile was fired by Ukrainian forces. .
The United States claims that Russia is losing “on all fronts” in Ukraine. The US Chief of Staff, Mark Milley, said on Wednesday that Russia is losing “on all fronts” in the war in Ukraine. The US military chief noted that although Ukraine should continue to put pressure on Russian forces, Moscow still has significant power inside the country and this winter usually slows down operations. This means that the probability of achieving a short-term Ukrainian military victory is not high, and this opens the door to the possibility of reaching a political solution.
Germany offers Poland to reinforce patrols in Polish airspace. The German government announced, on Wednesday, that it will offer Poland to reinforce its airspace with German fighters, after a missile collided yesterday in Polish territory, in addition to that it is studying the possibility of extending the period of deployment of Patriot missiles. Anti-missile system in Slovakia until 2024. “As an immediate response to the events in Poland, we will offer this country to strengthen surveillance by patrolling its airspace with German Eurofighters. This can be done tomorrow if Poland wishes,” a spokesman for the German Ministry of Defense told a regular press conference. “.
In the photo by Valentin Ogirienko for Reuters, the ruins of the Kherson airport.
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