The discovery of a large Russian missile inside Poland has triggered a wave of political recrimination and finger-pointing, even though the blame clearly lies with the defense minister and his allies in the ruling party. Worse, the incident confirms that Poland’s skies are nowhere near as safe as its leaders claim.
WARSAW – On December 16, 2022, a Russian KH-55 missile flew halfway across Poland before landing 12 kilometers outside Bydgoszcz, a city of over 300,000 people that is host to five NATO units and the Joint Forces Training Center. NATO’s largest producer of TNT, Nitro-Chem, is in nearby Belma. The Russian missile, designed to carry a nuclear payload of up to 200 kilotons – 13 times greater than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima – was six meters long and weighed 1.7 tons. Fortunately, it appears to have been unarmed.
WARSAW – On December 16, 2022, a Russian KH-55 missile flew halfway across Poland before landing 12 kilometers outside Bydgoszcz, a city of over 300,000 people that is host to five NATO units and the Joint Forces Training Center. NATO’s largest producer of TNT, Nitro-Chem, is in nearby Belma. The Russian missile, designed to carry a nuclear payload of up to 200 kilotons – 13 times greater than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima – was six meters long and weighed 1.7 tons. Fortunately, it appears to have been unarmed.