Poland wants to shoot down Russian missiles threatening it in Ukrainian skies

“I personally believe that when hostile missiles are about to enter our airspace, it would be legitimate to defend ourselves”said the Polish Foreign Minister. In an interview with Financial Times and published on Monday, September 2, Radoslaw Sikorski argued “only once [que des missiles] have entered our airspace, the risk of debris injuring someone becomes significant”he said.

These statements come a week after a “flying device” entered the territory of Poland, a NATO member country and a staunch ally of kyiv, at the time of the massive Russian strikes in neighboring Ukraine. Lost by radar, the drone has still not been found. At least two other cases of Russian missiles entering Polish territory have been reported in the past by Warsaw.

“Being a member of NATO does not supplant the responsibility of each country to protect its own airspace, it is our constitutional duty”, continued the Polish minister, adding that kyiv was in favor of such operations: “The Ukrainians told us, ‘You are welcome'”he assured the British daily.

Following these statements by the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, a NATO official quoted by AFP declared, on condition of anonymity, that the Atlantic Alliance had “the responsibility to prevent the war waged by Russia from escalating further.” “NATO is not a party to the conflict and will not become a party to the conflict”the source said. “We recognize the right of each Allied country to protect its own airspace, but what individual Allies do to support Ukraine can also impact NATO as a whole.”she recalled.