Poland military on alert after missile strike

Poland's military was on high alert after a deadly missile strike on a village near the border with war-ravaged Ukraine.

Moscow's ambassador has been summoned to provide "immediate detailed explanations" and the military had been put on heightened alert after an emergency national security council meeting, Polish authorities said.

The missile landed outside the rural Polish village of Przewodow -- nearly 6.4 kilometers west of the Ukrainian border, killing two people.

Press reports citing witnesses to the blast described hearing a terrifying “whoosh”, with the force of the explosion shaking the nearby areas.

Russia's defence ministry has fiercely rejected Poland's claim of a Russian missile striking Polish territory, slamming the allegation as "deliberate provocation aimed at escalating the situation", amid reports, which blame Ukraine for the strike.

"No strikes on targets near the Ukrainian-Polish state border were made by Russian means of destruction," the ministry said.

This is while the circumstances surrounding the incident – marking the first time a member of the US-led NATO military alliance comes under a direct missile hit during the nearly 9-month conflict – remains unclear. It has not yet been clear who launched the missile and where it originated from, but the Polish Foreign Ministry merely described it as “Russian-made.”