A Russian missile attack on the International Peacekeeping and Security Center that killed at least 35 people was launched from long-range bombers flying in Russian airspace, a senior U.S. defense official told The Washington Post on Monday.
Although the shelling of the military base in Yavoriv on Sunday was just 15 miles from Poland, a member of NATO, the attack has not altered the U.S. force posture in Poland, the official saod.
NATO troops have used the site in the past to train the Ukrainian military, and the base houses around 1,000 foreign volunteers assisting Ukraine now.
The official said that the Pentagon does ''not have a way of knowing or tracking whether any U.S. nationals were casualties of Sunday's attack but reaffirmed statements that no U.S. troops, government officials, or defense contractors were at Yavoriv at the time of the strike.''
Russian reports of the attack disrupting supply lines of military aid to Ukraine were denied by the Pentagon official, who said that ''more than a couple dozen missiles were launched into the compound.''
The official also denied claims from the Russian Defense Ministry that the base was used as a Western weapons depot.
U.S. and European officials have kept their military aide supply lines to Ukraine quiet.
''I would just tell you that we have multiple routes to get security assistance into the hands of the Ukrainians,'' Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters in a Monday news briefing. ''This was not one of them.''
The official said the attack demonstrates why a no-fly zone would be bad policy.
''A no-fly zone would not stop all of the air activity,'' the official said. ''It would engender U.S. pilots in combat with Russia.''
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.