# Ukraine offers Poland training on counter-drone defence after airspace violations
Ukraine has agreed to train Polish soldiers and engineers in drone defence after a recent Russian drone incursion into Polish airspace exposed how costly it can be to intercept cheap, mass-produced attack drones with conventional missiles.
The announcement came on 2025-09-18 at a news conference in Kyiv, according to evidence source 7201. Polish Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said Poland would sign a cooperation agreement with Ukraine's defence ministry and that the training would take place in Lipa, in southern Poland. Ukrainian Defence Minister Denys Shmyhal said the effort would focus on the broader system needed to defend airspace, not only on interceptor drones.
That wider system matters because Ukraine has spent years building layered counter-drone capabilities. The evidence says Kyiv uses interceptor drones, heavy machine guns and electronic warfare to respond to mass Russian attacks. Shmyhal said Ukraine would also provide access to some of its tracking systems so Poland could see what might be heading toward its territory.
The move follows an incident in which Polish and NATO forces shot down more than 20 drones that had violated Polish airspace during a Russian aerial attack on neighbouring Ukraine. Fighter jets used missiles against those drones, a response that is effective but expensive when compared with the cost of the drones themselves. Poland's response underlined how quickly the war in Ukraine is reshaping defence planning across NATO's eastern flank.
For Poland, the training agreement is both practical and political. Practically, it is a response to a real airspace threat and a sign that Warsaw wants to harden its defences against future incursions. Politically, it reflects a closer security relationship with Kyiv at a moment when both countries are facing pressure from Russian military activity.
The evidence also makes clear that the plan is not limited to a single course or a single technology. Shmyhal described training across the entire ecosystem of drone interception: identifying targets, jamming them electronically and bringing them down. That approach suggests the two countries are trying to shift from reactive defence to a more integrated model that includes sensors, software, jamming and weapons.
Poland's interest is understandable. Ukraine has become one of the most experienced states in the world at defending against mass drone assaults, and it has done so under wartime pressure. Sharing that know-how with a NATO neighbour gives the arrangement a broader significance than a bilateral training deal. It is a sign that Ukraine's battlefield experience is already shaping European defence practice.
Citations
- Source 7201: training agreement, Lipa location, drone incursion context, Ukrainian counter-drone methods.
