Radosław Sikorski. Photo: Getty Images
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski has stated that downing 3 or 4 of the 19 Russian drones by Polish air defence would, by Ukrainian definitions, be considered a complete success.
Source: Sikorski in an interview with The Guardian
Details: Sikorski dismissed claims that Polish air defences had been unprepared for the incursion, although of the 19 drones that entered Polish airspace, only 3 or 4 were downed.
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“The drones didn’t reach their targets and there was minor damage to property, nobody was hurt. If it happened in Ukraine, by Ukrainian definitions, that would be regarded as a 100% success,” he said.
He believes that the incursion of Russian drones into Polish airspace was part of the Kremlin’s strategy of gradual escalation and testing NATO’s response without risking a full-scale reaction. Sikorski added that the drones carried no explosives.
“Interestingly, they were all duds, which suggests to me that Russia tried to test us without starting a war,” he said.
Sikorski believes that if the Russian attack had resulted in human casualties, Poland’s response would have been “much tougher”. He declined to specify what form that response might have taken.
“With an aggressor and a liar like Putin, only the toughest counter-pressures work,” he stated.
Sikorski also noted that Polish units will be trained by the best Ukrainian operators in countering drones.
Quote: “The Ukrainians have better equipment for dealing with Russian drones, and they have much deeper and more up-to-date experience of resisting the Russian army. This is something that the public and the governments in the west need urgently to integrate in their thinking … that it is the Ukrainians who will be training us how to stand up to Russia, not the other way around.”
Details: Sikorski added that the training will take place at a NATO training centre in Poland, which is a “safer environment” than in Ukraine.
Background:
- Earlier, media reports indicated that Polish military personnel will travel to Ukraine to learn how to shoot down drones.
- On 12 September, the Polish Ministry of Defence announced that cooperation with Ukraine on countering drones will take place on Polish territory.
- On 11 September, Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces General Wiesław Kukuła and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi discussed information-sharing protocols…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Ukrainska Pravda…