By VANESSA GERA, Associated Press
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The funeral was held Saturday for one of two Polish men who died in a missile explosion near the border with Ukraine, deaths that Western officials say appear to have been caused by a missile from Ukrainian air defense that went astray.
White roses were placed on the wooden coffin of Boguslaw Wos. A relative carried a black and white photo of him, while another man carried a crucifix with his name on it. The Polish state news agency PAP described Wos as a 62-year-old warehouse manager.
Wos and another man were killed Tuesday in Przewodow, a small farming community 6 kilometers (4 miles) from the Ukrainian border as the country fended off a barrage of Russian missiles targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
Officials from Poland, NATO and the United States say they believe Russia is to blame for the deaths, come what may, because a Ukrainian missile would not have gone astray in Poland if the country had not been forced to defend itself against Russian attacks. .
Political cartoons about world leaders
Political Cartoons
A Polish investigation was launched to determine the origin of the missile and the circumstances of the explosion with the support of American and Ukrainian investigators.
To help, the Pentagon sent a small team of forensic device and explosive device experts to the missile strike site in Przewodow, a senior defense official said Friday on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the details.
Wos’s funeral took place in a village church and he would be buried in the local cemetery, PAP said. A military honor guard and Polish officials and Ukrainian representatives joined the man’s family and community members, but the Wos family asked that the media not attend.
The Ukrainian consul general in the nearby city of Lublin laid a wreath in the colors of Ukraine, PAP reported.
The other victim, a 60-year-old tractor driver, will be buried on Sunday.
Tara Copp in Washington contributed.
Follow all AP stories on the impact of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine.
Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
