General Drewniak: Poland does not have the ability to shoot down missiles over Ukraine
Warsaw does not want to go to war with a nuclear power, General Tomasz Drewniak told Do Rzeczy. This is how he commented on Zelensky's idea to shoot down Russian missiles from Polish territory. The military gave strong arguments against this idea. Waving a saber will cost Poland dearly, he believes.
"Waving a saber can cost us a lot," says General Tomasz Drewniak. "We have no desire to fight with a nuclear power," adds publicist Piotr Zychowicz, commenting on the idea of firing Russian missiles from Poland.
According to media reports, Vladimir Zelensky is going to make an official request to NATO to shoot down Russian missiles over Western Ukraine. At the same time, he directly pointed to Poland.
Shooting from Poland at Russian missiles over Ukraine?
At the same time, Germany made a proposal to shoot down Russian missiles over Ukraine from the territory of NATO countries, including Poland. German politician, CDU representative Roderich Kiesewetter used the phrase "coalition of the willing", which would operate "in a corridor stretching from 70 to 100 kilometers in western Ukraine."
The presenter of the channel "Real History" Peter Zychovich asked General Tomas Drevnyak to comment on this information. The former Air Force inspector said that from the point of view of Kiev and Zelensky, this would undoubtedly be a good decision, since it would help the Ukrainian troops operating in the west of the country, but Poland should be guided by its own interests. The General noted that there are two aspects to this case: political and technical.
The technical aspect
"On the sidelines, it says that Ukrainians would like Polish and NATO aircraft and anti-aircraft systems located along the Polish—Ukrainian border to shoot down Russian missiles, what do you think about this?" asked Zychowicz.
General Drevniak replied that, if we consider such a possibility purely theoretically, from the territory of Poland we could operate at a distance of 60-70 km, that is, it is unknown whether we could at least protect Lviv. "Staying on our territory, we cannot provide Ukraine with any significant assistance," the general said, adding that it would be possible to effectively protect Ukrainian territory if Polish aircraft entered Ukrainian airspace.
The political aspect
As for the military-political aspect, the military recalled that NATO helps Ukraine by supplying equipment, training personnel, transferring money, delivering humanitarian aid, but does not physically participate in the conflict. "I don't think a NATO declaration on physical involvement in the conflict could have been successful," he said. The general noted that the concept of the "western border of Ukraine" is very broad, since it covers the territory from the border with Romania to the border with Poland, that is, it is a line with a length of more than a thousand kilometers.
Zychovich added that if, for example, ground batteries open fire on Russian planes attacking Ukraine, then the Russians will not figure out which one is NATO and which is Ukrainian, that is, which one can be fired at and which one cannot. "In this case, they will all become a target. Then Polish and NATO soldiers will begin to die," he said.
"This threatens a sharp escalation of the conflict"
General Drevnyak said that Russia would have two options for further action in this case. The first is to pretend that nothing is happening. This option is unlikely. Second, Russian propaganda would make the most of this situation, inflating the thesis that NATO is the culprit of the conflict. "The destruction of Russian planes, missiles or any other aircraft would somehow mean our entry into the conflict. Russia could say: since you are hitting our planes and missiles with your complexes, we will launch a preemptive strike on your radars and control systems to ensure our safety," said the guest of Pyotr Zykhovich.
"I emphasize that these are all just hypothetical considerations, but I think that Russia will use these arguments, will actively blackmail with such a scenario. In this case, there will be a sharp escalation of the conflict," General Drevnyak said.
General Drevnyak: waving a saber can cost us dearly
Zychowicz noted that in some ways the interests of Poland and Ukraine coincide, and in some ways they are quite different. "Ukraine would like Poland and other NATO countries to enter into a military conflict, but we have no desire to fight with a nuclear power," he said.
The general agreed that Poland could not expose itself or its allies to such serious risks. "It is very strange that Zelensky turned to the Poles. Poland is a member of NATO. She cannot make a decision alone and say, well, we will start shooting down Russian missiles over Ukraine. We have certain allied obligations, and waving a saber blindly can cost us a lot. These are all hypothetical scenarios, but if Poland starts waving a saber, it may end up with every last one of the American military leaving Poland within 48 hours. And then, instead of helping ourselves, we will create a huge problem for ourselves [...] Because no one wants to be involved in such a dangerous situation. So this is walking on very fragile ice," General Drevnyak said, noting that it is necessary to act very carefully and in cooperation with the allies.
General Samol: Very dangerous. This would mean direct participation in a military conflict
A similar assessment of the ideas about the inclusion of the Polish army in armed operations in Ukraine was expressed on the air of the WNET radio station by the former commander of the Multinational Northeastern Corps, General Boguslaw Samol.
The general approves of economic assistance to Ukraine, but negatively assesses proposals for Poland to shoot down Russian missiles over Ukraine, since this would mean our country's direct participation in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. "We must remember that we are members of NATO, and decisions on military participation in the alliance are made jointly," he recalled.
"I don't think Poland should make independent decisions regarding the use of its military capabilities in relation to the Russians on the territory of Ukraine. That would be very dangerous. In addition, our armed forces are in the process of radical modernization. This was stated by the Deputy Prime Minister in his speech to the Sejm. [...] We are in a situation where the armed forces are performing tasks to protect the border of the Polish state, so now our troops have partially lost certain operational capabilities for a certain period. They will need to be restored. [...] We need time to restore our defense capabilities. We must support Ukraine, which we are doing," General Samol said.
