Signal to Warsaw: former Polish defence minister explains purpose of using "Oreshnik"
Russia's strike with an Oreshnik medium-range ballistic missile on a target in the Lviv region, near the border with Poland, was political and demonstrative in nature.
According to Censor.NET, this was stated in a comment by former Polish Minister of National Defense Janusz Onyszkiewicz to the Ukrinform agency.
According to the Polish politician, Moscow was trying to send a message directly to Warsaw, rather than change the situation on the battlefield. This was an attempt to intimidate and demonstrate Russia's missile capabilities.
A signal to Poland, not a military necessity
Onyszkiewicz noted that the attack on the Lviv region should be viewed in the context of discussions about the future role of the Polish city of Rzeszów as a key logistics hub supporting Ukraine.
"It was more of a signal to Poland. Russia demonstrated that it has the capability to attack such targets with missiles that are difficult to intercept," the former Polish defense minister emphasized.
At the same time, he stressed that such a show of force would not affect Warsaw's position on further support for Ukraine in the war with Russia.
Demonstration and intimidation without real consequences
The Polish politician compared this missile strike to the nighttime attack by Russian drones on Polish territory in September last year. In both cases, he said, the weapons did not have warheads, confirming the demonstrative nature of Russia's actions.
Onyszkiewicz noted that such steps by the Kremlin did not achieve their goal and did not cause panic either in Polish society or among the country's leadership. Poland has not changed its policy and continues to support Ukraine.
- Earlier, Polish Foreign Ministry spokesman Maciej Wewior also said that Warsaw would continue to help Kyiv, and that Russia must realize that it cannot achieve its strategic goals through aggression.
It should be noted that even before the Russian attack began, Ukraine warned Poland about the possible use of the Oreshnik ballistic missile by Russia, which allowed the Polish army to prepare its air defense systems and track the target's trajectory.
