Poland was the first to respond to Russia's aggression against Ukraine, providing dense weapons on a mass scale to the attacked neighbour. In the first decisive months of the war, we became the undisputed leader of Ukraine's support for arms delivery. After 2.5 years we inactive keep this position – according to a study published by the Chancellery of the President.
Leopard 2A4 close Pokrowska, Ukraine, 8 October 2024. photograph AA/ABACA / Abaca Press / Forum
Large financial outlays, military support, initiating and coordinating aid operations on the global phase and immense grassroots engagement of citizens – this can be summed up the support given by Poland Ukraine since the outbreak of the full-scale war with Russia. According to a study published on the President's Chancellery website, Poland is the leader in almost all kind of assistance provided. Among the countries supporting Kiev, we are ranked first in terms of expenditure incurred in relation to GDP. Our country has allocated the equivalent of 4.91% of GDP to this aid, of which 0.71% is expenditure on support for Ukraine and 4.2% is aid to Ukrainian refugees. In the meantime, no State aid has reached 4% of their gross home product. Only Estonia approached this level.
First in Military Support
"At the beginning of the war, erstwhile it was truly hard for aid to Ukraine, erstwhile everyone was afraid and reluctant, Germans gave helmets, we gave tanks" – this fragment of president Andrzej Duda's message from August this year opens a study on Polish aid to Ukraine.
The main part of the paper describes Poland's commitment to military support for the attacked neighbour. Expenditure in this category amounted to EUR 3.23 billion, or over PLN 14 billion. The aid scale is shown by the number of tanks transferred. Of the 800 plays that Western states delivered to Ukraine, as many as 350 came from Poland. From the resources of the Polish army to Ukraine 14 modern Leopard 2A4 tanks and older construction machines: 60 PT-91 tanks and 280 T-72M, T-72M1 and T-72M1R. This is more than the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, Norway and Spain gave in total. The study besides stresses that this Poland headed the “tank coalition”, lobbying for support for the Ukrainian army. Together with our country, Ukraine has received over a 1000 dense combat equipment – most of all allies.
Warsaw is besides a leader in supporting Ukrainian air forces in aircraft – east delivered 14 MiG-29 machines. Only the United States is ahead of us in terms of the number of helicopters delivered. The Ukrainian army besides received a large number of Polish drones and anti-aircraft and anti-missile kits. In addition, 20 1000 Starlink sets went to Ukraine to establish net communications, which we finance.
In addition, military support Poland joined the Czech “ammunition initiative”, declaring an amount of EUR 100 million.
Training and exchange of experience with NATO
The study besides shows that Poland has a crucial share in training programmes. Our country has already organised or co-organised more than half a 1000 trainings for Ukrainian armed forces. any 25 000 Ukrainian soldiers have been trained so far, of which 14.5 000 have been trained as part of the EUMAM mission.
One of the trainings of Ukrainian soldiers in the 10th Brigade of the Armored Cavalry in Świętszów on the Leopard 2 tanks transferred by Poland during the visit of the president of Poland, February 2023.
One of the flagship projects is the establishment of NATO-Ukraine Analysis, Training and Education Centre, which in January 2025 will be opened in Bydgoszcz. It is to be not only a training centre, but besides a place to exchange experiences from the battlefield, invaluable from the position of the North Atlantic Alliance states. For Ukrainian armed forces, this cooperation has another dimension – bringing the Ukrainian army closer to NATO standards.
Unprecedented assistance to refugees
As Ukraine's nearest neighbour Poland became a natural refuge for refugees leaving the country after Russia's attack. There are presently nearly 980,000 Ukrainian refugees in our country, and more than 2 million people have benefited from humanitarian support since the outbreak of the war. Eurostat data shows that we have adopted the largest number of refugees compared to the population. As many as 1.5 million Ukrainians benefited from support at reception points offering food, resting places, basic medical care and information about the rules of their stay in Poland and forms of assistance, as well as the rules of legalization of their stay. Half a million refugees stayed at collective accommodation with food, co-financed by the Polish government. By 30 June 2024, more than 2 million Ukrainian citizens benefited from this solution.
In total, the costs of maintaining the civilian refugees from Ukraine subject to temporary protection in 2022 amounted to PLN 4.9 billion and were the highest among OECD associate States. Last year this sum amounted to PLN 2.5 billion. The Polish citizens themselves besides showed large commitment – 7% of Poles decided to welcome refugees into their homes. In total, 77% of the inhabitants of our country joined in helping Ukrainians flee the war. According to the Polish economical Institute, in the first months after the outbreak of the war, Poles spent about PLN 10 billion in their own pockets to aid refugees.
Transport of Ukrainian orphans with severe disabilities, which from the respite-coordinated hub in Stalowa Wola, went to a specialized centre in Koblence thanks to the cooperation of the First Ladies of Poland and Germany, March 2022.
Systemic solutions to facilitate the lives of Ukrainian citizens in Poland deserve attention. A period after the outbreak of the war, the parliament passed a law on the assistance of Ukrainian citizens in connection with the armed conflict in the territory of that country, which regulated their stay and allowed the issue of PESEL to be given. This enabled refugees to benefit from a number of public services, to collect household and educational benefits and to receive financial assistance and to supply free medical and intellectual care. The success of legal solutions is demonstrated by the fact that as many as 65% of refugees staying in Poland took up work. This is the highest percent among OECD countries. By comparison, in Germany 19% of Ukrainians fled the war.
Rzeszów as a logistics hub
Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, 1 of the key points has been the Reichs and Jasionka Airport. That's where, due to its geographical location, a immense logistics hub has been created, which serves most abroad supplies for Ukraine: humanitarian and military. Only in the first half of 2022 through the logistics hub UCPM (Union civilian Protection Mechanism) more than 80% of the aid sent by the European Union worth about EUR 800 million. The Center for Medical Evacuation MEDEVAC Hub Jasionka by June of this year transported almost 3,000. patients from Ukraine for further treatment to 18 countries.
The President's Chancellery study was mostly compiled on the basis of data from the first half of 2024. These comparisons are based on available figures, as not all information on military aid provided by the Western States has been disclosed.
