Kacper Pempel/REUTERS
Warsaw’s recent tussle with over a dozen Russian drones in its airspace shows NATO has much to learn about defending its skies against Moscow, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
At a press conference in Finland on Thursday, Zelenskyy cautioned the West against an overreliance on expensive air defense munitions in light of Russia’s growing use of cheap, long-range attack drones.
Poland said that at least 19 such Russian drones entered its airspace on Wednesday. NATO aircraft, including Dutch F-35s in the country, scrambled to deal with the incursions, and Warsaw placed its Patriot missile batteries on alert.
“A Patriot costs 2 to 3 million, while a drone, a Shahed or Geran, and so on, costs up to $100,000. That is, you do not fight one with the other,” Zelenskyy said, referring to a Patriot missile costing roughly $3 million.
European forces shot down at least three Russian drones, which were likely exploding Shahed drones or decoy Gerbera drones.
The engagement appeared to have involved some conventional air defense munitions. Footage on social media indicates that residents in Poland filmed aircraft firing missiles in the sky and found the debris of at least one AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile, which can cost roughly $1.2 million.
The fighters that NATO activated were also equipped with the AIM-9 Sidewinder, a $400,000 short-range air-launched missile.
“They used missiles costing $1 million to $1.2 million. That is not the way,” Zelenskyy said. “Of course, one must do everything so that one’s people are safe.”
“But in the general sense, in the understanding of how to fight, that is not the way,” he continued.
Ukraine’s way of fighting drones
Wednesday’s incident has been widely viewed as a test of whether NATO’s air defenses are ready to counter threats like Russian drone attacks.
In his speech, Zelenskyy assessed that no one in the alliance seemed prepared. He said Ukraine had offered help and training to Poland and other NATO states.
“We offered our assistance, because Poland’s Patriots in the fight against Shaheds will not help and will not help anyone. They are purely a weapon against ballistic missiles,” he said.
“When we are being hit by 500 to 800 Shaheds per day, it is clear that Patriots are not against drones,” Zelenskyy added. Russia has been accumulating large numbers of attack and decoy drones to launch in waves against Ukraine, with Kyiv saying the largest attack so far involved over 800 drones.
Over the last year, Ukraine has adapted to the Shahed waves by deploying a wide range of defenses working in tandem, including vehicle-mounted machine guns, electronic warfare, interceptor drones, and helicopters that chase down the aerial systems.
It largely reserves advanced air defense munitions for the more powerful ballistic or cruise missiles that Russia launches together with its drones.
Zelenskyy, calling this a “multisystem” for air defense, said NATO states should learn how to adopt such a strategy.
“Only we have it, and the Russians have it,” he said.
Fears of an expanding war
The Ukrainian president added that he was in talks with leaders from Poland, the UK, Italy, and NATO officials to form a joint air defense system.
“Donald and I agreed on appropriate cooperation at the military level. We will also coordinate with all NATO member states,” Zelenskyy wrote on X, referring to Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
Alliance leaders have called the 19 incursions — the latest in a series of airspace violations in Poland over the last month — an intentional act by Russia to provoke the West and probe its defenses.
The Kremlin, meanwhile, has been dismissive of NATO’s accusations, saying that it hadn’t deliberately flown any drones into Poland, while neither confirming nor denying whether its drones had entered the country’s airspace.
The incursions prompted Poland to invoke Article 4 of the NATO Treaty, which means that a member state feels threatened and can consult with the alliance about urgent next steps, including receiving reinforcements in its territory.
NATO said on Thursday that since the alliance’s founding, Article 4 has been invoked eight times.
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