From January, the French will defend the weapons hub destined for Ukraine
From January 1, 2027, France will take over air defense of the Rzeszów area in southeastern Poland, home to the most important logistics hub for Western military aid destined for Ukraine. French ambassador to Warsaw Étienne de Poncins told journalists on Friday, November 6, that "from January 1, France will take over air defense in the Rzeszów area within the framework of NATO."
This will be the first time French military equipment is used for this task, and the French air defense systems will operate alongside the American Patriot systems, which, according to the ambassador, will provide an opportunity to test how well they work together. The ambassador did not say exactly what systems and how many troops Paris will send, or how long France will remain in the region.
Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport has been the gateway for Western aid to Ukraine since the start of the war. According to the Kyiv Post, since the full-scale invasion began, 90 to 95 percent of the Western military aid arriving in Poland by air passes through this airport before being transported overland to Ukraine, which is why NATO member states take turns defending it. Germany previously took on the task with its own air defense assets, and from December 1, 2025, the Netherlands took over, deploying two Patriot launchers, a NASAMS battery, a separate counter-drone unit, and around three hundred troops around the airport. The Dutch mission was originally supposed to last until June 1, 2026; Dutch Patriots are still defending the airport, and Swedish systems are set to arrive next month. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk already indicated back in April, at a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron in Gdańsk, that it was "not out of the question" for France to take over part of the defense of Rzeszów and Jasionka. At the time, around 250 French troops were stationed in Poland.
The decision came at a time when Ukraine's air defense is increasingly dependent on its European allies due to delays in American missile resupplies. In October, Zelensky complained that this year Ukraine received an average of only 12 Patriot missiles a month from the United States, and that some of the shipments already paid for have been awaiting the signature of U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for weeks. Defending the Rzeszów hub is also important because this is where Western aid is most vulnerable, and a successful Russian attack or act of sabotage could cripple the flow of weapons to Ukraine for months.
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