NATO should shoot down missiles flying towards Poland or Romania – general

Waldemar Skrzypczak, a Polish expert and ex-commander of the Land Forces, and former Deputy Minister of National Defence of the Republic of Poland, said this in a commentary to Ukrinform.

"NATO's narrative should be as follows: we warn Putin that any missile flying in our direction will be shot down. We say we are defending ourselves, and as part of that defense, we shoot down missiles flying in the direction of, for example, Poland or Romania,” Skrzypczak said.

He explained that NATO should not say that it is helping Ukraine shoot down missiles in order to avoid engaging in a discussion with Russia about the West's alleged involvement in World War III, but rather emphasize the defense of the Alliance's territory.

According to the Polish general, a political decision on this should be made without delay at the NATO level, as it is about the collective security of the North Atlantic Alliance. In addition, this decision will also be in the interests of Ukraine.

As reported, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky called it a double standard that the allies helped Israel shoot down missiles and drones launched by Iran while refusing to provide similar assistance to Ukraine. He emphasized that while protecting Israel, the partner countries demonstrated that there was enough air defense equipment to intercept a significant number of Iranian missiles and UAVs, but such a demonstration was also "supposed to be a demonstration for Russia." At the same time, the president recalled that Russian aircraft and enemy missiles had repeatedly crossed the airspace of Poland and Romania, "and there was no reaction, which indicates the double standard." Zelensky noted that at that time, allied aircraft should have shot down those missiles.

On December 29, 2023, one of the Russian missiles breached Polish airspace, staying in it for about three minutes and flying almost 40 kilometers. At the time, Poland scrambled two pairs of F-16 fighter jets to protect its airspace.

Later, on March 24, a Russian missile again violated Polish airspace near the village of Ocerdów in the Lublin Voivodeship and stayed there for 39 seconds.

Although Poland's air defense forces tracked the missile's flight path, no decision was made to shoot it down.