U.S. transfers 90 Patriot missiles from Israel to Poland for delivery to Ukraine
The U.S. military has extracted approximately 90 Patriot air defense system missiles from storage in Israel, rerouting them to Rzeszow, a pivotal logistics hub in southeastern Poland for U.S. and NATO arms supplies to Ukraine.
"This marks the largest arms transfer from Israel to Ukraine since the onset of Russia's invasion," Axios reported, citing three informed sources. The report did not specify if Ukraine would be receiving the Patriot systems themselves.
As Axios highlighted, the Israeli Air Force officially decommissioned the Patriot air defense system in April of last year, more than 30 years after the United States initially supplied it. The systems have lost their relevance in Israel, which has developed its own air defense solutions (such as the "Iron Dome" and "David's Sling"), using most Patriot batteries for training or storage purposes.
"In recent days, U.S. Air Force C-17 transport aircraft landed at a base in southern Israel before taking off for the Polish city of Rzeszow," the publication noted. Supplementary equipment, including radar systems and other air defense components, will first head to the U.S. for upgrades, it clarified. Additionally, it was reported that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu engaged in a phone conversation on January 28.
According to Axios' sources, following the declared withdrawal of Patriot missiles by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Ukrainian authorities proposed a plan to the U.S. and Israel to return these missiles to the U.S. for supply to Ukraine. However, Netanyahu "delayed action for several months" and avoided phone calls on the subject, fearing Russian retaliation, including possible modern weapons supplies to Iran, the report stated.
The idea received approval from the prime minister only in late September 2024, an Israeli source informed the outlet. He also recalled a similar situation two years prior, when the U.S. transported artillery shells from Israeli warehouses to supply Ukraine. "Israel informed Russia of its role in this operation, emphasizing that it was merely returning Patriot systems to U.S. hands, not directly supplying weapons to Ukraine," Axios reported, highlighting that, according to Netanyahu's office, "the Israeli side is not aware if the weapons would be transferred to Ukraine."
On January 25, OSINTdefender, a project analyzing military conflicts in Europe and other regions, reported that Israel had begun supplying Ukraine with Russian weapons captured by the IDF during Middle Eastern conflicts. According to their data, several U.S. Air Force Boeing C-17 cargo planes departed from Germany's Ramstein base for Israel's Hatzor Airbase before proceeding to Rzeszow this week.
The exact military assets transported were not specified. It was previously reported that Israel was considering providing the Ukrainian Armed Forces with Russian-manufactured arms seized in Lebanon and Syria. Potential deliveries could include tanks, anti-tank guided missiles, and ammunition. "This is in addition to several Patriot air defense missile batteries that the Israeli Air Force was preparing to decommission and considered transferring to Ukraine," noted OSINTdefender.