Gold sees spike in prices on reports of Russian missiles crossing into Poland

(Kitco News) The gold market saw a temporary price spike after reports of Russian missiles hitting NATO member Poland and killing two people.

After Ukraine recaptured Kherson from Russian forces and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the area, Russia responded by bombarding Ukraine with missile strikes, hitting targets across the country and causing significant damage to energy facilities.

During the attack, missiles crossed into Poland, a NATO member, and killed two people, AP reported citing a U.S. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The information is yet to be confirmed by the Polish government. However, Polish government spokesman Piotr Mueller did state that there is an urgent national security and defense affairs meeting that has been called due to a "crisis situation."

According to Polish media reports, a projectile hit an area near Przewodów — a Polish village located near the border with Ukraine.

There were also reports of massive power outages in Moldova after the Russian missile strike on Ukraine.

Russia is said to have fired 85 missiles Tuesday, according to Zelenskyy. “Most of them at our energy infrastructure … We’re working, will restore everything. We will survive everything,” he said.

Ukrainian Minister of Energy Herman Halushchenko described the attack as “the most massive” bombardment of energy facilities since the start of the Russian invasion.

Russia's Ministry of Defense commented that statements of Russian missiles hitting Poland are a provocation. "No strikes on targets near the Ukrainian-Polish state border were made by Russian means of destruction," the ministry said on its Telegram channel.

Gold prices jumped in response to a spike in geopolitical tensions and the potential fallout from the situation, with December Comex gold futures hitting a daily high of $1,791.80 an ounce. At the time of writing, December gold has pared back some gains and traded at $1,781.40, up 0.25% on the day.

Analysts described it as a significant escalation since Poland is a NATO member. “In March, President Biden said the U.S. would keep their NATO commitment, including article 5, which states each member of the alliance will take actions deemed necessary against the attacker,” said OANDA senior market analyst Edward Moya.