NATO’s actions will be adequate to the actions taken by the Russian Federation in the Kaliningrad Oblast. Should there be any threat, Art. 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty is possible to implement, said Deputy Minister of National Defense Wojciech Skurkiewicz.
This week, the US Associated Press reported that Russia has deployed its three state-of-the-art missiles in Kaliningrad – the Kindżal hypersonic missiles. They were delivered there by MiG-31 fighters, which, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense, are to be in constant combat readiness.
As a state of NATO’s eastern flank, we are fully aware of this, which is why our actions – in consultation with our allies and the NATO headquarters – are and will continue to be adequate to the threats and actions taken by the Russian Federation in the Königsberg Oblast – Deputy Minister of National Defense Wojciech Skurkiewicz told PAP.
He stressed that cooperation within NATO is the basis for guaranteeing Poland’s security. These guarantees were and still remain valid, and the obligations in this regard are clearly communicated by our partners: individual members of the North Atlantic Alliance, as well as the President of the United States, Joe Biden – added Skurkiewicz.
At the same time he assured that if there was any threat, Art. 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, ie the formula “one for all, all for one” – is feasible. Therefore, we are absolutely safe when it comes to all issues related to threats to the Republic of Poland – said the deputy head of the Ministry of National Defense.
He also recalled that in the north-eastern regions of Poland, a number of activities have been undertaken for a long time to strengthening the defense of NATO’s eastern flank. He indicated that it is, among others, deployment and presence of allied troops, as well as intensive military exercises.
In this context, the deputy head of the Ministry of National Defense also recalled that in Bemowo Piskie we have a multinational combat group efP (stationed in Poland as part of NATO’s Forward Enhanced Presence). Elbląg, on the other hand, is the seat of the Multinational Division North East, whose task is to coordinate the activities of four NATO multinational battalion battlegroups deployed under the eFP (Enhanced Forward Presence) in Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
According to the Russian army Kindżał has a range of up to 2 thousand. km and flies at 10 times the speed of soundis therefore difficult to intercept. The command of the air force of Ukraine admitted that the Ukrainian army did not have air defense resources that could effectively counter the Kindżałom.
Russian troops recently used these missiles in early August in an attack on the Vinnytsia Oblast, in total, only a few cases of this type of missiles have been reported since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine. The Russians are trying to use them only against extremely important targets – announced the command of the air force of Ukraine.