Russia repurposes S300 air defense missiles for ground attacks due to shortage of precision missiles - diplomat Bryza

The former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Matthew Bryza commented on the recent developments live on the air of Espreso TV channel.

“We don't know exactly what happened. President Biden has followed the comments of President Duda of Poland saying that this definitely was not an attack on Poland, at least that's what president Duda said. And President Biden has said that the evidence so far suggests that this was not a Russian missile,” Bryza said.

According to the US diplomat, the Russian army has been repurposing S300 air defense missiles for ground attacks as Russia has run out of other precision guided surface-to-surface missiles. 

“There’s still in my mind a possibility that it could have been Russia firing an S300, but it would be such an extreme provocation to hit Polish territory. And given how firm the Russian denial was afterward, my instincts tell me that in this case it was an accident. Nonetheless Russia is firing 100 missiles on Ukrainian territory and the possibility of the conflict spilling over into NATO territory in Poland is always there as just happened,” he reiterated.

On November 15, a blast occurred outside the Polish village of Przewodow, several kilometers west from the Ukrainian border, the same time as Russia launched its massive missile attack on Ukrainian cities.

The leaders of Poland, US and NATO said the missile that killed two people, was likely fired by Ukrainian air defense forces. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy refuted the allegation.