JASIONKA NEAR RZESZOW, Poland (Reuters) -Two German Patriot air defence units deployed to southeastern Poland to protect a major hub for military and humanitarian supplies to Ukraine will be fully operational by Monday, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said on Thursday.
Germany began deploying Patriot units to Poland in January 2023, after a stray Ukrainian missile struck the Polish village of Przewodow the previous November in an incident that raised fears of the war in Ukraine spilling over the border. Another surface-to-air missile landed in northern Poland in April 2023.
The two German Patriot units will remain close to the Polish-Ukrainian border for six months to protect the airspace in the region, Pistorius told reporters during a visit to the Polish military airport Jasionka near Rzeszow.
He also said Berlin would send Eurofighter jets to Poland in summer to help with air policing.
Polish Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz welcomed the deployment of the air defence units around Jasionka airport.
“Jasionka is the main aid hub for humanitarian and military aid, over 90% of aid to Ukraine goes through Jasionka,” he said. “These two Patriot batteries are a big thing, they ensure the safety of Poland and our airspace.”
In December, Norway deployed F-35 fighter jets and NASAMS air defence systems to Poland to help safeguard the hub, saying that it was critical for the delivery of military supplies to Ukraine which the country desperately needed.
Germany previously deployed 300 troops along with three Patriot units to Poland from January to November 2023.
They were based in the town of Zamosc, about 50 km (31 miles) from the Ukrainian border, to protect the southern town and its crucial railway link to Ukraine, which has been fighting a full-scale Russian invasion for almost three years.
(Reporting by Reuters TV, writing by Sabine Siebold and Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk; editing by Matthias Williams and Philippa Fletcher)
