France Deploys 3 Rafale Fighter Jets To Help Protect Polish Airspace

UNSPLASH/Fasyah Halim ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - France will deploy three Rafale fighter jets to help Poland protect its airspace after this week's drone strike (drone) into its airspace.

The security of the European continent is our top priority. We will not give up on Russia's increasing intimidation," French President Emmanuel Macron said.

A French military official said warplanes had been deployed to Poland before Tuesday's attack.

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged Kyiv allies to reconsider their own air defense capabilities after drone attacks on Polish airspace that Warsaw said belonged to Russia.

Speaking in Kyiv with Finnish President Alexander Stubb who was visiting, Zelenskyy said Ukraine was "open and ready" to provide support for the efforts of its allies.

Ukraine has been parrying a lot of airstrikes since Russia started a war with its neighbors, using a series of weapons supplied by Ukraine and foreigners ranging from old machine guns to advanced missiles.

Zelenskyy said countries like Poland should explore similar-layered approaches as missile systems such as US-made Patriots are too expensive to use against cheap drones used by Russia.

"No one in the world has enough missiles to shoot down all types of drones," Zelenskyy said on Thursday, September 11.

With the support of its NATO allies on Wednesday, Poland shot down several drones entering its airspace.