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Why Germany offered Patriots to Poland
Summary
A look back at the 22 November 2022 German offer of air defence along the Polish border with Ukraine, and the missile incident behind it.
What did Berlin's offer of Patriot missile systems to Poland signal? On 22 November 2022, Germany said it would deploy Patriot surface-to-air systems on the Poland–Ukraine border to protect Polish airspace. Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak said he had accepted the German proposal.
The offer followed an explosion on 15 November 2022 in the village of Przewodów, near the border with Ukraine, which killed two people. It happened during Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure. It was the first time a foreign missile had hit NATO territory during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Competing accounts
Initially Ukraine accused Russia of striking Poland. The United States said the missile was likely an air defence missile fired by Ukrainian forces at an incoming Russian missile. Polish prosecutors later confirmed, in September 2023, that the blast was caused by an out-of-control Ukrainian S-300 air-defence missile.
What the decision showed
The German move came one week after the strike, and Warsaw accepted it quickly. Whatever the origin of the missile, the response was to add air defence on the Polish side of the frontier, with Germany supplying the systems and Poland agreeing to host them.
