The Minister of Defense of Poland gave several reasons why Ukraine should receive these ABM systems.

Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said that the placement of Patriot anti-missile defense systems in Ukraine is beneficial for his country.

As reported by the Polish Ministry of Defense, Blaszczak made such a statement on Friday, November 25, when he attended the Tumak 22 NATO exercise, which is being held near the Polish-Belarusian and Polish-Russian borders. He emphasized that missile security in the west of Ukraine will also mean security in the east of Poland. Blaszczak also recalled the November 15 incident with a rocket falling in the Polish village of Przewodów.

“Patriots, which are stationed in the east of Poland, will be able to shoot down missiles that cross the Polish border, and this tragic event on November 15 happened just a few kilometers from the Ukrainian border. This missile flew into the territory of Poland in a few seconds. This time is not enough for it to be effectively knock down,” he said.

According to the Minister of Defense of Poland, the deployment of Patriot systems in Ukraine will not give grounds to interpret the damage caused by a Russian missile over Ukrainian territory by the Polish military as the country’s entry into the war.

“To shoot down such a missile over Ukrainian territory would mean Poland entering the war, and we don’t want that. Placing the Patriot in western Ukraine increases the security of both western Ukraine and Poland,” Blaszczak emphasized.

At the same time, the potential possibility of a blackout in Ukraine due to an insufficient number of anti-missile systems may cause an increase in the flow of Ukrainian refugees to Europe.

In addition, he did not agree with the thesis that the German Patriot systems are allegedly “too technological” for Ukraine.

“The German Patriot is an old version, from the 1980s, so it cannot be said that they are technological. Ukraine has already received equipment that is much more technological than the German Patriot. I mean the HIMARS complexes,” explained the head of the Polish Ministry of Defense.

Patriot systems for Ukraine: what is known

On November 23, 2022, the Minister of Defense of Poland Mariusz Blaszczak offered Germany to transfer the batteries of the universal Patriot air defense system promised to his country to Ukraine. This happened after another Russian missile attack on Ukraine.

Later, German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht spoke in favor of a discussion by NATO member states on the possibility of transferring Patriot air defense systems, promised by Berlin to Poland, directly to Ukraine.

At the same time, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg emphasized that the provision of Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine does not require NATO approval, but only the decision of individual countries.