Ukrainian air force welcomes Poland’s plans to deploy Patriot systems on border
Redeployment of Patriots from Germany comes after missile hits Polish village (Photo:MissGarfield/Flickr)
Ukraine welcomes Poland’s plans to deploy Patriot air defense systems on the border with Ukraine, Ukraine’s Air Forces spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat said during a briefing on Nov. 21.
He noted that Ukraine has been asking the world to protect Ukrainian airspace and transfer the relevant weapons and aircraft since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
“I would really like it to happen,” he said.
“At least, to protect our skies with these (Patriot) systems on that part of the front.”
Earlier Minister of National Defence of Poland Mariusz Błaszczak said that his country plans to deploy additional Patriot air defense systems on the border with Ukraine.
Germany offered to supply Poland with the Patriot systems after a missile incident near the border with Ukraine.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Nov. 20 that the investigation had not yet established where the missile was launched from.
On Nov. 15, Russia launched the most massive missile and drone strike since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In total, over 90 missiles were launched, of which 77 were reportedly downed by Ukraine’s Air Defense Forces.
On the same day, two missiles reportedly fell in Poland’s Przewodow, Lublin district, approximately 7 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. Two people were killed in the incident.
Polish President Andrzej Duda said that there were no indications that the missile strike had been a deliberate attack on Polish territory, and that the missile could have been fired by Ukrainian air defenses.
The U.S. White House said it had no reason to doubt Poland’s preliminary findings, but stressed that Russia bears full responsibility for the deaths of two Polish citizens, regardless of the results of the investigation.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that, according to the Ukrainian military, the missile that fell in Poland was not Ukrainian. He also said that Ukrainian specialists should participate in the investigation and gain access to the site of the explosion and all radar tracking data.
On Nov. 17, Ukrainian experts were allowed to start working at the site.
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