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.
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.