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These are the faces of two Polish farm workers killed when a stray Ukrainian missile crashed down on top of them yesterday, sparking a major diplomatic incident.
Bogusław Wos, 62, the foreman of a grain warehouse, and Bogdan Ciupek, 60, a tractor driver, were killed around 3.40pm Tuesday when an S-300 rocket hit the town of Przewodow in eastern Poland, near the border with Ukraine.
It was initially feared the missile could have been fired by Putin’s forces, sparking a confrontation between NATO and Russia that could have spiralled into WW3.
But Polish President Andrzej Duda has since said it is ‘highly probable’ the Soviet-era weapon was fired by Ukrainian air defence trying to fend off an attack from Russia which then accidentally hit his country.
Warehouse supervisor Bogusław Wos, 62 (left), and tractor driver Bogdan Ciupek, 60 (right), have been named as the two men killed in a missile strike on Poland yesterday afternoon
The pair died when what is believed to have been a Ukrainian anti-air missile went off course and slammed into the village of Przewodow, in eastern Poland (pictured)
Horrified residents reported hearing ‘strange whistles’ as the missile flew overhead and then ‘a massive explosion, about a thousand decibels’ as it slammed down.
Neighbours say Boguslaw had worked in the grain silo warehouse for 40 years and lived with his wife and elderly mother-in-law, who they both looked after.
The Przewodow native is reported to have two grown up children who now live in the southern Polish city of Krakow.
Bogdan, who worked as a driver at the grain drying plant, lived in the nearby village of Setniki.
A neighbour told local media: ‘We all know each other, it’s not a big town.
‘We have never experienced such a tragedy. They were good people.’
Another told news portal interia.pl: ‘Boguslaw went to work as usual and at around 4pm his wife realized that something bad had happened.
Bogdan is thought to have just arrived at a grain warehouse in his tractor where Boguslaw was waiting for him before the missile landed on them around 3.40pm Tuesday local time
Polish medics pick their way through rubble following the missile strike on Przewodow on Tuesday, which killed two people
A chunk of metal is pictured lying in the dirt after the explosion. The Polish president has said the missile appears to be ‘Russian-made’, while Joe Biden has said it does not appear the missile was fired ‘from Russia’
‘Some of the neighbors, out of compassion and curiosity, wanted to visit his wife but she was in a frenzy, she did not want to talk, she looked into the distance and cried.
‘She was in terrible shock.’
It is thought that Bogdan had just arrived at a grain-drying warehouse driving a tractor-trailer full of grain when the missile hit.
Boguslaw was reportedly waiting for him, to help unload the cargo.
Images from the scene show the missile – an S-300 anti-air rocket – hit the ground next to the trailer and exploded, leaving a 6ft deep hole in the ground.
The trailer and its cargo were turned over, while the tractor’s windows were blown out. Nearby buildings were damaged, and rubble was left strewn across a field.
The strike came during a massive Russian bombardment on Ukraine’s power grid, which Kyiv described as the largest of the war so-far.
It is thought that anti-air defences were trying to intercept one of these rockets, aimed close to the border, when it mis-fired and went off course.
Police probe the site where a missile strike killed two men in the eastern Poland village of Przewodow, near Ukraine
The strike on Przewodow came amid the largest Russian missile bombardment on Ukraine yet during the war, with Kyiv’s air force saying 90 weapons were fired in consecutive salvos – mostly targeting energy infrastructure
The incident marks the first time during the conflict that NATO-member Poland has been directly struck, sparking fears it could warrant a military response.
However, Duda – backed by NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg – downplayed those fears today, saying it appears the deaths were a tragic accident.
The pair said Russia still bears ultimate responsibility for the strike which would not have happened if it weren’t for Putin’s war in Ukraine, but took the options of a direct military response off the table.
Instead, NATO will discuss strengthening air defences along its eastern border with Germany offering to send jet patrols over Poland, if requested.