The Minister of National Defense of Poland Mariusz Blaszczak did not said that Ukraine has already received the Patriot air defense system, but that the positive decision to transfer this system to Kyiv was made thanks to Polandʼs efforts.
Ukrinform was informed about this by the Ministry of National Defense of Poland.
"The intention of the Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister of National Defense Mariusz Blaszczak was to indicate [in an interview with La Razon] that thanks to the efforts of Poland, the decision was made to transfer the Patriot battery," the Ministry noted, emphasizing that the first Polish Leopard tanks had already in Ukraine.
The Ministry of National Defense of Poland added that the mention in the Polish ministerʼs interview about Ukraineʼs acquisition of the Patriot air defense system was apparently due to a translation error.
- On March 7, the Spanish newspaper La Razon published an interview with Polish Minister of National Defense Mariusz Blaszczak, in which he stated that thanks to Polandʼs efforts, Patriot batteries or the first Leopard tanks, among other things, reached Ukraine.
- On December 21, 2022, the United States informed about a new military aid package for Ukraine, which includes a battery of Patriot air defense systems. In January, it became known that Germany will transfer an additional Patriot battery, the Netherlands — two more Patriot launchers. In January, the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov stated that the Americans would train Ukrainian officers to operate the Patriot in 10 weeks.