Germany moves combat jets to Poland after Russian incursions

A number of German Eurofighter Typhoon combat jets took off from the Nörvenich airbase near Cologne on Thursday for the Polish airbase at Malbork south-east of Gdańsk to reinforce NATO's eastern flank.

The German Air Force said the redeployment represented a reaction to the latest Russian infringements of NATO airspace in the Baltic region, along with incursions by kamikaze drones.

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius announced the move in mid-October. The deployment is planned to last until March.

"With this mission, our troops are making a further valuable contribution to protecting the eastern NATO region, alongside our rapid-reaction wing stationed in Romania since August," air force commanding officer Lieutenant General Holger Neumann said.

Germany was signalling support to Poland and NATO as a whole, Neumann added.

German planes were stationed at Malbork, some 60 kilometres south-east of Gdańsk and 80 kilometres west of the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, in August and September.

The jets are accompanied by around 150 personnel, including pilots, technicians, guards and military police.