Missile explosion heightens Ukraine war fears in Poland
PRZEWODOW, Poland — Since the invasion of Ukraine, Poland has aided the neighboring country and millions of its refugees — both to ease their suffering and to help guard against the war spilling into the rest of Europe.
But a missile strike that killed two men Tuesday in a Polish village close to the Ukrainian border brought the conflict home and added to the longsuppressed sense of vulnerability in a country where the ravages of World War II are well remembered.
“The thing that I dread most in life is war. I don’t want to ever experience that,” said Anna Grabinska, a Warsaw woman who has extended help to a Ukrainian mother of two small children.
One of the men killed in Przewodow was actively helping refugees from Ukraine who had found shelter in the area.
NATO and Polish leaders say the missile was most likely fired by Ukraine in defense against a Russian attack.
Now shaken Poles fear for their future, and political commentators warn that the strike should not be allowed to hurt relations with Ukraine, which have recently grown closer through Poland’s solidarity.
“There is fear, anxiety for what will happen the next night or the next day,” villager Kinga Kancir said.
When Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, millions of Poles dropped what they were doing to help. They took time off work and rushed to the border to offer strangers rides in their cars and places in their homes. Polish mothers left baby prams at a border railway station for fleeing Ukrainian mothers they would never meet.
People acted on humanitarian impulse, but their generosity was also a conscious contribution to the Ukrainian war effort. By keeping Ukrainian women and children safe, the Poles ensured more men could fight Russian forces.
Poland has a long history of conflict with Moscow.
Russia was one of the three powers that divided Poland in the 18th century and erased it from Europe’s maps for more than 100 years. After World War II, Poland was an unwilling part of the East Bloc and remained under Moscow’s domination for over four decades, until the Poles peacefully toppled the communist government.
In their solidarity with Ukraine, many Poles put aside historical grievances rooted in ethnic conflict.
The Polish government offered temporary accommodations and financial aid to refugees and gave money to Poles who housed them. The refugees also receive free state medical care, school for their children and help finding jobs.
The conflict has strengthened Poland’s ties with NATO allies, especially the U.S., which sent thousands of troops to southeast Poland, close to the Ukrainian border, as Poland became a conduit for weapons sent from the West to Ukraine.