Associated Press Fires Journalist Over Article Claiming Russian Missile Hit Poland: Reports

The Associated Press newswire service has reportedly fired a journalist who cited an anonymous U.S. official’s incorrect claim that Russia fired a missile that struck Polish territory, killing two people on Nov. 16, according to numerous reports.

The Daily Beast was the first to report that investigative journalist and former U.S. marine James LaPorta was fired on Monday over the misleading anonymous claim, which was repeated widely by other outlets and cable news.

The Epoch Times has contacted LaPorta and The Associated Press for confirmation and comment.

Ultimately, NATO officials and Poland’s government said that it was, in fact, a Ukrainian missile that landed in Poland.

A Russian missile strike inside Poland, a NATO country, would have threatened a serious escalation of Ukraine’s war with Russia that could have dragged more countries into the conflict if found to be true. Fears spread on social media that it could lead to a third world war.

A Ukrainian sapper carries a part of a projectile during a demining operation in a residential area in Lyman, Donetsk region, Ukraine on Nov. 16, 2022. (Andriy Andriyenko/AP Photo)

The Associated Press later replaced the article online with a correction, saying the outlet had “reported erroneously” based on the claims of a “senior American intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity.”

“Subsequent reporting showed that the missiles were Russian-made and most likely fired by Ukraine in defense against a Russian attack,” the newswire said in its correction on Nov. 16.

The Associated Press didn’t disclose the identity of the anonymous U.S. official or their government branch. But that official told the outlet that a Russian missile was fired into Poland and killed two people.

Nothing Suggested ‘Intentional Attack’: Poland

After the revelation that the missile came from Ukraine, Poland President Andrzej Duda was at pains to say that nothing suggested the missile strike was “an intentional attack.”

“Ukraine’s defense was launching their missiles in various directions, and it is highly probable that one of these missiles, unfortunately, fell on Polish territory,” Duda said in a statement on Nov. 16. “There is nothing, absolutely nothing, to suggest that it was an intentional attack on Poland.”

Prior to the Polish president’s statement, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had been quick to blame Russia, decrying the incident as “a very significant escalation” of his country’s war with Russia.

After Zelenskyy’s comments, Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) had, very early in the morning on Nov. 16, released a statement saying that a “Russian-made missile dropped” onto a village inside its territory near the Ukrainian border, killing two Polish citizens.

In the meantime, Russian social media accounts posted an image of the missile debris, revealing that it was a type of missile that Ukraine also uses.

Polish soldiers pass on Nov. 17, 2022, by the police checkpoint next to the site where a missile strike killed two men in the eastern Poland village of Przewodow, near the border with war-ravaged Ukraine on Nov. 15, 2022. (Wojtek Radwanksi and Damien Simonart/AFP via Getty Images)

Russia Denies Involvement Despite Firing on Ukraine

From the outset, Russia firmly rejected claims that it was involved and accused Polish media and officials of trying to deliberately provoke an escalation of the war by involving a NATO member country.

“Polish mass media and officials commit deliberate provocation to escalate situation with their statement on alleged impact of ‘Russian’ rockets at Przewodow,” Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement at the time.

“Russian firepower has launched no strikes at the area between Ukrainian-Polish border. The wreckage published by Polish mass media from the scene in Przewodow have no relation to Russian firepower.”

But the blame has still ultimately been placed on Russia by NATO and the White House, who said Ukraine had been forced to defend itself from Russian missile fire on Nov. 15.

“That said, whatever the final conclusions may be, it is clear that the party ultimately responsible for this tragic incident is Russia, which launched a barrage of missiles on Ukraine specifically intended to target civilian infrastructure. Ukraine had—and has—every right to defend itself,” said Adrienne Watson, White House national security council spokeswoman, in a statement.