Expert: incoming Russian missiles are already treated as an integral part of everyday life in Poland

Vilnius University political scientist dr. Mariusz Antonowicz according to him, the events of the weekend in Poland are not emphasized as much as one might think. According to him, it should be kept in mind that this is not the first time something like this has happened.

“That rocket lasted 39 seconds, it flew over the town of Oserdovo. The sensation was more the first time that it was not a Russian missile, but a missile launched by Ukraine, which defended itself against Russian attacks and killed two people. Then there was a discussion about what to do, is it possible or impossible to protect yourself here? It was concluded that it is really impossible to protect the entire sky of Poland and here you have to keep in mind that the town is only a kilometer or two from the border with Ukraine. There is no critical infrastructure there, no important military facilities,” the political scientist explained.

It is true that certain things have changed since the last incident.

“The only thing that has changed compared to the previous government is that the procedures have been changed – Polish fighter jets, US fighter jets have taken off, all the institutions responsible for security have gathered, but Poland cannot and has not done much in this place. It is no longer some kind of sensation in the public space. It is treated as an integral part of Poland’s everyday life, that such incidents can happen during every major Russian attack,” said M. Antonowicz.

However, it will now be considered what other guidelines should be drawn up and what should be done if such cases recur in the future. At this point, M. Antonowicz invited to remember the discussions that took place earlier.

“When there were previous incidents, in such an expert discussion, in expert debates, it was said that the only way for Poland to protect itself from such missiles is that Poland’s anti-missile defense must move to Western Ukraine. In theory, it is necessary to increase the air defense of Western Ukraine and its critical infrastructure, and Lviv and surrounding other important cities. By strengthening the air defense of those cities and the air defense of those objects, the air defense of Poland would also be protected, because, again, building anti-aircraft defense there, near those villages, near those towns is simply illogical and costs too much financially,” he shared his insights.

True, this would probably be treated as NATO’s intervention in the war in Ukraine, but, as the interviewer noted, many actions of NATO member states can be treated this way.

“It seems to me that we are talking more about Western Ukraine being defended, if not as well as Kiev, where there is a very high percentage of downed missiles and drones, then at least approaching or being similarly defended as Kiev. It seems to me that the discussion can go in that direction, because, again, from the Polish side, from such a technical side, it is only possible to prevent such incidents,” said M. Antonowicz.

After the incident that happened on Sunday morning, there were discussions and questions in the public space, why wasn’t the Russian missile that entered the territory of Poland shot down? M. Antonowicz explained that in the show.

“One thing is that it was in the airspace for a very short time, and the other thing that is important is that, in such cases, and this is how even the same Israeli iron dome works, the trajectory of the missile is calculated and where it will fall. If it is seen that it will not fall on the territory of Poland or will not hit somewhere where there is civil infrastructure or critical infrastructure, usually, such a missile is not shot down. This is not only done by Poland, but also by Ukrainians and Israel – most of the countries in the world do this,” the political scientist pointed out.

According to him, if it had been calculated and predicted that the rocket could fall where many people live or where there is some critical infrastructure, appropriate actions would have been taken.

“Then there would be an attempt to shoot her down,” Antonowicz claimed.

Political scientist M. Antonowicz also commented on how the Polish public views these events. According to him, it has to be admitted that the Polish people look at all this quite calmly.

“In fact, since that incident where the Ukrainian missile killed two people, there is more acceptance that such incidents can happen. There is no such big question, what can be done here? Of course, in the long run there is still a question about defense and about the safety of the airspace, even if nothing will be damaged there, nothing will be destroyed. That is why the talks with NATO are taking place, perhaps to strengthen the air defense of Western Ukraine a little,” the interviewer said.

According to the political scientist, the Polish people had to understand that Poland is a border state.

“It has a short border with Ukraine and such things have happened, are happening and, most likely, may happen again if some steps are not taken,” said M. Antonowicz.

In addition, as political scientist M. Antonowicz pointed out, there are not many interpretations in the public space that such incidents are certain Russian provocations.

“Last time, before that New Year, it was more about the fact that it was either unintentional or just a trajectory set to achieve that goal.” So far, there is not such a strong consensus in Poland that there is a deliberate attempt by Russia to violate Polish airspace, but, again, there is such a stir from the politicians’ side that it cannot be allowed to continue as long as the Russian war against Ukraine lasts. “, he claimed.

You can find the entire interview on the News Radio portal: