(ANSA-AFP) - WARSAW, NOV 24 - Poland's defence minister has
asked Germany to ship a Patriot surface-to-air missile defence
system intended for Poland to Ukraine instead to help defend
itself against Russia. The offer follows a deadly missile blast
in a Polish village last week that Warsaw believes may have been
a stray Ukrainian air defence missile launched against a barrage
of Russian strikes. "I have asked Germany to send the Patriot
system offered to Poland to Ukraine where it could be installed
on their western border," Mariusz Blaszczak said on Twitter late
on Wednesday. "This would allow Ukraine to protect itself
against incurring more casualties and blackouts and reinforce
the security of our eastern border," he said. The German
government earlier this week said it had reached an agreement to
help Poland protect its skies following an explosion near the
Ukrainian border which killed two people. Poland and NATO have
said the blast was probably caused by a stray Ukrainian air
defence missile launched against a Russian strike but have said
Moscow is ultimately responsible. Germany has already sent
Patriot air defence units to Slovakia, where Berlin hopes to
keep them deployed until at least the end of 2023. (ANSA-AFP).
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