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9:35 16.09.2025 •
Zelensky with Patriot – is it over, their romance?
Photo: POLITICO
Urgent air defense appeals from Kyiv were already underway before drones breached Polish airspace Tuesday. A renewed Russian onslaught on infrastructure has highlighted dangerous weaknesses in Ukraine’s already limited defense systems, with missiles striking central Kyiv in recent weeks, including the seat of government, ‘The Washington Post’ stresses.
Ukraine is calling for immediate weapons deliveries even as it continues to draft plans with European partners and the United States for future security guarantees in case of a ceasefire, an outcome that looks increasingly unlikely as Russia escalates its war.
In the hours after Poland scrambled NATO jets to counter the drones early Wednesday, Ukrainian Zelensky urged partners to work with Kyiv to build a “joint air defense system and create an effective air shield over Europe.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has now called for a “drone wall” to protect the European Union from Russian attacks and Warsaw requested that NATO send more U.S.-made Patriot antimissile systems to Poland. Ukraine, which is not a member of the alliance, faces a severe shortage of Patriot systems and missiles, even after receiving two new launchers from Germany this month.
The advanced weapons Poland deployed against just a handful of Russian drones this week are precious commodities that Ukraine typically reserves for the more advanced and destructive Russian missiles. Ukraine must pick and choose what to shoot down due to lack of certainty over future supplies.
Who to protect?
Russia has so drastically ramped up its domestic drone production capacities that it routinely breaks its own records of nightly launches, most recently sending more than 800 into Ukraine at once — a rate Ukrainian officials warn will soon become the new norm. Russia is also targeting Ukrainian energy infrastructure, igniting fears that the country could face a gas shortage this winter, forcing homes to go without heat and potentially triggering a new refugee surge into the European Union.
Russia’s constantly changing tactics have placed “an immense strain on our capabilities,” said Ukrainian lawmaker Victoria Gryb, who heads the parliament’s subcommittee on energy security.
“I fear this situation is only set to worsen, as current global events are prompting every nation to prioritize its own security,” she said. “Therefore, the best investment in their own security for our partners is to help Ukraine neutralize these threats on our territory, preventing them from ever reaching NATO borders.”
One former Ukrainian official said they fear the incursion into Poland will instead prompt Europe to even more closely guard its limited resources — possibly at the expense of Ukraine. The former official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive topic openly, said their first thought as drones entered Polish airspace was, “They will not even give us what they already promised.”
Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, a Ukrainian lawmaker and chair of the parliamentary committee on E.U. integration, acknowledged there will be division in Europe between those who want to prioritize their own security and those who see strengthening Ukraine’s as key to the same goal.
Poland calls for NATO-backed no-fly zone over Ukraine
Poland’s foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski called on NATO countries to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine to protect Europe from Russian strikes amid the continuing fallout over the drone incursion into Poland last week, which prompted the U.S.-led alliance to scramble fighter jets.
In remarks published Monday, the foreign minister, Radoslaw Sikorski, told the German news outlet Frankfurter Allgemeiner that the idea was broached a year ago with the Biden administration but that it could not be carried out just by Poland, and would need the support of other European allies.
The United States and its major allies in NATO, including Britain, have previously rejected requests by Ukraine for a no-fly zone because of the high risk of direct combat with Russian aircraft, and there has been no indication that President Donald Trump is considering such a step — especially without Russia agreeing to a ceasefire, ‘The Washington Post’ stresses.
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