Russia shells Ukraine every day. The Ukrainian Foreign Minister's proposal: Protect Ukrainian and NATO airspace from Poland at the same time.
Kiev – Ukraine says it has defended around 2,000 cruise missiles and rockets since the war began in February 2022. Nevertheless, many cities and towns were destroyed and numerous people were killed in air raids. Vladimir Putin's troops are currently launching daily air strikes on Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj repeatedly calls on Western heads of state to supply additional air defense systems. Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba played out a new scenario for Ukraine's air defense: defending Ukraine from NATO bases.
Kuleba said in an interview with
TSN.Week
that he was studying the possibility of using Patriot missile systems in Poland to protect the western Ukrainian border. “That’s realistic now. In fact, it would also protect NATO countries from the arrival of drones or missiles on their territory,” the Ukrainian Foreign Minister said, according to
Nexta
. The German Bundeswehr alone still has ten units of the Patriot system. However, many of them are reserved for NATO missions,
Tagesspiegel
reported .
Germany stationed Patriot systems in Poland in 2023 after a rocket hit Polish territory
Stationing the air defense system in Poland is fundamentally not a new idea. As early as 2023, Germany stationed air defense systems in Poland to protect the NATO state. The German “Patriot” fighter squadrons were stationed there for almost ten months. At the end of 2023, the three Patriot anti-aircraft missiles returned to Germany.
At that time it was about protecting Polish and therefore NATO airspace. The trigger for the delivery of the Patriot air defense systems was rocket strikes on Polish territory in November 2022, in which two men died. The missile strikes were probably not a Russian attack on a NATO state, but rather misdirected Ukrainian missiles.
The Bundeswehr writes about the Patriot system, which is used to combat aircraft, tactical ballistic missiles and cruise missiles, that it is “faster than sound”. Patriot uses its radar system to detect flying objects and forwards them to the responsible units. Computers are used to verify and classify the object. After the threat analysis has been checked by the responsible soldiers, they initiate the fight, i.e. firing the defensive missile.
Scholz and Zelenskyj announce further German Patriot delivery to Ukraine
On Saturday (April 13), the German federal government and Zelensky announced that Germany would deliver a third Patriot air defense system to Ukraine. Zelensky and Chancellor Olaf Scholz agreed on this in a telephone conversation,
Euronews
reported . Military expert Carlo Masala commented on the planned delivery on Platform
X
: “Germany is delivering an additional PATRIOT fire unit to Ukraine. This is very good. There are still 7-9 units missing. Europe where are you?”.
Foreign Minister Baerbock calls on NATO states to deliver Patriot to Ukraine
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also shared a video on the X platform together with the Ukrainian Foreign Minister on Saturday, in which she also called on European countries to supply additional air defense systems. “With the additional #Patriot unit, we are strengthening #Ukraine’s protective shield. Because she also defends our peace order,” Baerbock commented on the video. Together with Defense Minister Pistorius, she wants to “systematically promote further immediate deliveries of air defense” to her partners.
Most recently, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also called on the Western allies to send further air defense support to Ukraine. “Delays in the delivery of air defense systems will allow Russian missiles to hit more targets,” he said, according to
Tagesspiegel
.
NATO alliance states are ordering the purchase of 1,000 Patriot missiles for $5.5 billion
So far, in addition to Germany, the USA has delivered a system to Ukraine. There were also two Patriot launchers from the Netherlands. Ukraine's neighboring countries Hungary, Slovakia and Poland do not yet have their own Patriot systems. Only Romania has eight Patriot defense systems, which the country will most likely not deliver to Ukraine as an essential part of NATO's eastern flank. An alliance of NATO states, including Germany, the Netherlands and Spain, ordered the procurement of 1,000 Patriot missiles for $5.5 billion in January.
(pav)