Poland explains challenges of downing Russian missiles over Ukraine
The topic of shooting down Russian missiles by Polish air defense systems and those of other NATO Allies over the territory of Ukraine might seem desirable from media reports but difficult to implement from a technical point of view.
This was emphasized in an interview with Ukrinform by Poland’s Charge d’affaires in Ukraine Piotr Lukasiewicz.
"The idea of shooting down Russian missiles over Ukraine, I know it has to be explained to the Ukrainian audience. In the media space, it sounds desired, but technically, it's quite difficult to achieve. The first thing, technical obstacles are quite important here. On the Polish territory we don't have enough capabilities to protect our own airspace. We are just in the middle of building such a multi-layered air defense system," Lukasiewicz said.
The second reason, the Polish diplomat noted, is that it should not be a bilateral decision, but an allied one, which was emphasized by both the US defense officials and NATO leaders.
"It would mean that NATO comes into direct conflict with Russia. I know it's a difficult story to hear in Ukraine, but it's also necessary to explain to your viewers that NATO is not in the war with Russia. NATO is supporting Ukraine to the fullest possible way and will help Ukraine defend its territory as much as possible, to the victory," stressed the diplomat.
He emphasized that the U.S. missile defense base in Redzikowo in northern Poland, which will soon be put into operation, will be designed to potentially shoot down ballistic missiles toward the U.S. and deeper into Europe. “It focuses on those huge missiles rather than drones or other kinds of missiles. So it's technically something different,” Lukasiewicz explained.
"What we can do regarding the Kinzhals, Kh-type missiles that are destroying Ukraine so badly, targeting civilian infrastructure, is that Allies can provide more equipment like Patriots or NASAMS, and other types of missile defense systems that are already there and are being used very skillfully by Ukrainian defenders," Lukasiewicz emphasized.
As the agency reported, the Ukrainian side has repeatedly appealed to Poland at various levels with a request to shoot down Russian missiles flying in the direction of Poland, including over the territory of Ukraine.
In this regard, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland previously informed the agency that the issue is being discussed by the allies, but no decision has been made on this matter.
Early September, the head of Polish diplomacy, Radosław Sikorski, stated that he supports the idea of shooting down Russian missiles by the Polish air defense system over the territory of Ukraine, mentioning that this is his personal opinion rather than the position of the Polish government. Instead, the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Poland emphasized that Poland would not be shooting down Russian missiles over Ukraine.
Former Minister of National Defense of Poland, Janusz Onyszkiewicz, in a comment to Ukrinform, stated that the decision to down Russian air targets over the territory of Ukraine can be made by several NATO Allies, without the involvement of the entire Alliance, but with the consent of other Allies.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Polish airspace has been violated several times by Russian missiles during mass shelling of Ukraine.