Ukraine and Poland sign agreement to cooperate on drone warfare

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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Ukraine and Poland have signed an agreement to set up a joint working group to share experience and expertise in drone warfare. The development comes a week after an unprecedented violation of Polish airspace by Russian drones.

Ukraine has “made a historic leap in drone and anti-drone capabilities” in the three years since Russia’s full-scale invasion, said Poland’s defence minister, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, on a visit to Kyiv today. “We want to benefit from your knowledge and skills.”

Kosiniak-Kamysz and his Ukrainian counterpart, Denys Shmyhal, signed a memorandum of understanding on setting up the new working group. Its aims are threefold, says Ukraine’s defence ministry.

First, to “promote the exchange of operational expertise and practical experience in the UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] domain” and, second, to “develop and test methods for the employment of UAS [unmanned aerial systems] and counter-UAS measures”.

The term UAV refers only to drone aircraft, while UAS refers to the whole system supporting a drone, including the ground controller and the software needed to operate it, among other elements.

Finally, the working group will seek to “strengthen interoperability” between the Polish and Ukrainian armed forces and “ensure compatibility with NATO standards”.

“We are advancing our security cooperation to a new level in response to Russian terror, which poses a threat to Ukraine and other European countries,” declared Shmyhal, who revealed that “joint training programmes will form a central component” of the new arrangement.

“I extend my sincere gratitude to Poland and personally to Mr Kosiniak-Kamysz for their support,” he added. “Together, we are reinforcing the security of our nations and the whole European continent.”

The Polish defence minister commented that “in Poland, we know very well that the security line of our country runs along the front line of Ukraine and Russia”, which is why it so important to work closely with Kyiv.

On the night of Tuesday to Wednesday last week, around 20 Russian drones entered Polish airspace. A number of them were shot down after Polish and other NATO aircraft were scrambled in response. NATO has since pledged to enhance its defences along the alliance’s eastern flank.

Kosiniak-Kamysz and Shmyhal also today signed an agreement on improving bilateral military cooperation as well as a joint letter to NATO defence ministers about further developing the NATO-Ukraine Joint Analysis Training and Education Centre (JATEC) established in Poland earlier this year.

Speaking alongside Shmyhal, Kosiniak-Kamysz assured him that Ukraine’s “road to the West – to the European Union or to NATO – has not been abandoned”. He added that JATEC is a central element to Ukraine’s integration into NATO.

Poland has largely been supportive of Ukraine’s path to membership. However, newly elected president Karol Nawrocki, who is aligned with the right-wing opposition, has expressed doubt about the idea and opinion polls show declining public support.

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: Denys Shmyhal/X

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.