N. Patrushev quoted the statements of Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, who claimed that Poland would defeat Russia in a military conflict. According to Putin’s advisor, R. Sikorski’s assessment of Russia’s military power is “amateurish.”
Moscow reacted sensitively
Maria Zakharova, a representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, sharply reacted on Monday to the statement by Polish Foreign Minister R. Sikorski that if Russia attacked, NATO would defeat it in the air because it has an advantage in this area.
M. Zakharova stated that the words of the head of Polish diplomacy show,
“brain Russophobia,” noting that he allegedly spoke about a possible quick Polish victory over Russia.
It seems that R. Sikorski was actually talking not about a confrontation between Russia and Poland, but about a possible conflict between Russia and NATO. Assessing the balance of forces, the minister stated that “we would defeat Russia quite quickly.”
“If Russia attacked us and we acted without restrictions, I think we would defeat Russia quite quickly. We have an undeniable advantage over Russia in aviation. General, correct me if I am wrong, but that is about 2,500 aircraft. That is an undeniable advantage,” he firmly stated.
Poland itself has a much more modest military aviation fleet. According to publicly available data, the country currently has about 75–80 military aircraft, including remaining F-16s, FA-50s, MiG-29s, as well as the first F-35s.
Meanwhile, the Russian aviation fleet consists of about 300 military aircraft of various modifications.
M. Zakharova’s statement appeared after Russian propaganda media disseminated the Polish minister’s words in a context that changed their original meaning.
The latest dispute arose after a Russian jet drone attacked a civilian train locomotive at the Yahodyn railway station in the Volyn region. The station is near the border with Poland.
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Warsaw reacted very strictly to this, and Prime Minister Donald Tusk convened an urgent meeting and stated that escalation with Russia could intensify in the coming weeks.
Shot down the first drone in Lithuania
15min reminds that Italian NATO fighters shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle in Lithuanian airspace. The drone fell in a rural area near Kaunas Lagoon, in the central part of the country. Lithuania, like other Baltic countries, constantly experiences incursions of drones into its territory.
This is the first time since the start of Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine that a foreign drone has been shot down over Lithuania. Earlier, on May 19, a NATO fighter shot down a Ukrainian drone over Estonia.
According to European sources, Moscow deliberately redirects Ukrainian drones – which are intended to strike industrial enterprises and oil terminals in the Saint Petersburg region near the Gulf of Finland – off their intended course.
Russian frigate nearly hit Danish helicopter
Another incident of tension between Russia and Europe occurred in international waters off the coast of Denmark, when a Russian frigate fired two signal flares at a Danish military helicopter. According to a statement from the Danish Armed Forces cited by the Copenhagen Post, the signal flares nearly hit the aircraft.
The Danish defense leadership reported that the helicopter was performing a routine task – photographing the Russian ship. Defense Minister Jeppe Bruus separately told broadcaster TV2 that Copenhagen will summon the Russian ambassador over this incident.
