Last week's stray missile crash in Poland highlighted a serious vulnerability in European airspace defenses, German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht told German media. The Bundestag has already offered Poland the opportunity to secure its airspace with a Patriot missile defense system. Berlin also plans to supply Warsaw with Eurofighter jets.
“We have offered Poland support in securing airspace - with our Eurofighters and with Patriot air defense systems,” Lambrecht said.
On November 15, a stray missile crashed in eastern Poland, killing two people. The blast occurred outside the rural village of Przewodow, about 6 kilometers west of the Ukrainian border.
The media was quick to blame Russia and started to speculate about the possibilities of a full-scale military conflict between Moscow and NATO. However, Polish authorities were reluctant in this matter. President Andrzej Duda stated that there was a “high chance” it was an air defense missile from the Ukrainian side.
17 November 2022, 09:23 GMT
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed this, saying that there was no indication that the incident was the result of a deliberate attack.
The Russian Defense Ministry also stressed that Russian forces did not launch any strikes at targets near the Ukrainian-Polish border on that day. Also they stated that photos of the missile`s debris obviously indicate their non-Russian origin. The media reports blaming Russia were are a deliberate provocation, aiming to escalate the situation, the ministry added.