Ukraine To Provide Drone Defense Training For Poland After The Russian Drone Incident

JAKARTA - Ukrainian troops and technicians will train their Polish counterparts in a joint group to fight drones, Ukraine's Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Thursday, a week after Russian drones entered Poland.

"We are talking about technical training and army training that will survive and defend the airspace," Defense Minister Shmyhal told reporters at a news conference with his Polish counterpart in Kyiv.

"We're not just talking about interceptor drones, because this is just the tip of the iceberg that allows us to defend our airspace together," he added.

More than 20 Russian drones entered Polish airspace on the night of September 9-10, prompting NATO jets to shoot down some of them, creating growing concern in Warsaw about Moscow's willingness to test the alliance's determination.

Fighter jets fired missiles to shoot down the drones, a much more expensive process than Russia spent supplying and launching mass-produced cheap drones.

The Russian side said its troops were attacking Ukraine at the time the drone passed, not intending to strike targets in Poland.

Ukraine claims to have the leading capability in the world in countering mass attacks by Russian drones at low cost, using a complex layered system involving interceptor drones, heavy machine guns, and electronic warfare.

Defense Minister Shmyhal said Ukraine would provide access to several Russian air target tracking systems, so Poland could spot potential targets toward its territory.

" Training for Polish troops will involve the entire "ecosystem" on how to intercept enemy unmanned aerial vehicles, ranging from identifying locations and disturbing them electronically to dropping them in an interceptor drone," he said.

Meanwhile, Polish Defense Minister Wldyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said Ukraine and Poland would train together at a training ground in Lipa, southern Poland.