Breaking News: WWIII Threat Rises As Russia Reportedly Strikes NATO Country
The potential threat of a WWIII just hit a historical high after a Russian missile reportedly crossed over into Poland striking a grain facility. Russia pounded Ukraine’s energy facilities Tuesday with its biggest barrage of missiles yet, striking targets across the country and causing widespread blackouts.
A senior U.S. intelligence official said missiles crossed into NATO member Poland and killed two people.
A second person told The Associated Press that apparent Russian missiles struck a site in Poland about 15 miles from the Ukrainian border.
If confirmed, the strike would mark the first time in the war that Russian weapons have come down on a NATO country.
The Russian Defense Ministry denied being behind “any strikes on targets near the Ukrainian-Polish border” and said in a statement that photos of purported damage “have nothing to do” with Russian weapons.
A top U.S. lawmaker warned on Tuesday of significant consequences for Russia — including a Western military response — if it’s determined that Moscow was at fault for a deadly airstrike in Poland.In an interview, Senate Foreign Relations Chair Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) said that if Moscow intentionally struck the territory in Poland, it could lead to the invocation of Article 5 of the NATO charter. That provision calls for other NATO member-states to contribute to the response, including possibly via military force, if one member is attacked.
“We’re drilling down to find out what were the circumstances of it. It’s obviously very important to understand — was it a mistake, was it an overflight, was it intentional. I hope that it was not intentional,” Menendez said.
“I hope that the Russians apologize quickly for the loss of life and express that it wasn’t intentional. Obviously, if it was intentional, that has all kinds of consequences to it,” he added. “It’s definitely an enlargement of the conflict and of course it brings into question Article 5.”
Article 5 is a simple NATO agreement that essentially means a 'strike against one is a strike against all'. The good news is that every inch of Ukraine has been covered by satellites since the start of the war and officials are cautiously reviewing all evidence before deciding what to do next.
The last time Article 5 was put to use was following the attacks on the World Trade Centers on September 11th, 2001. With any luck, cooler heads will prevail and world war will be avoided. The odds that no action will be taken are pretty low but right now what matters is what exactly happened and if there was any intent behind it.