Netherlands to deploy Patriot air defense systems to Poland

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo via U.S. Defense Visual Information Distribution Service - DVIDS

WARSAW  -  The Netherlands will send two Patriot air defence systems and around 300 personnel to protect a hub for military aid to Ukraine in NATO ally Poland, the Polish defence minister said on Thursday.

Earlier this week, a Russian-made drone crashed into a field in eastern Poland, heightening concern in Poland about airspace violations during the war in neighbouring Ukraine.

"Due to the ongoing events in Ukraine, the ongoing conflict, and Poland's role in logistically securing the transfer to Ukraine (...), the Netherlands has declared support for systems securing our airspace and air defence systems," Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz told a news conference, welcoming the Dutch decision.

The Netherlands said on Wednesday that the Patriot systems would be deployed from December 1 to June 1 next year.

The military drone fell into a cornfield in eastern Poland overnight on Tuesday, scorching crops, shattering windows in nearby homes and adding to tensions during intensified efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

A prosecutor said on Thursday that the drone most likely came from the direction of Belarus, a close ally of Moscow that has backed Russia's war in Ukraine.

 (Reporting by Alan Charlish;Editing by Helen Popper // REUTERS)