Poland relocates its Patriot missiles to Warsaw

Poland has moved its Patriot surface-to-air missile systems to a military airfield in western Warsaw where they will remain for the time being, Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak tweeted on Sunday.
Apart from Patriots that fellow NATO member Germany deployed to the country in mid-January, the Polish military has its own batteries of the US-built air defence system, Blaszczak wrote on Twitter.
Despite moves by Poland and other eastern members of NATO to bolster their defence capacity, the minister did not mention the almost one-year-old conflict in neighbouring Ukraine.
The redeployment of the missiles to Bemovo from their current location in Sochaczew, west of Warsaw, is an important element in the training of the capital's third air defence missile brigade, he wrote.
According to the pro-government TVP.info news website, Poland has two Patriot battalions of its own and is additionally protected by Patriot units of its NATO allies.
After US-operated Patriots were withdrawn, replacement German units sent to Zamosc near the Ukrainian border on Wednesday announced their "initial operational readiness."
Several NATO countries have Patriot missiles, and Germany and the US are preparing to supply Ukraine with batteries to protect its cities and infrastructure against frequent Russian missile strikes.
On Tuesday, a group of 70 Ukrainian soldiers arrived in Germany for training on the system, which Berlin will make available to Kiev. In December, Washington also pledged to send Patriots to Ukraine as part of its latest $1.85-billion military assistance package.