Norway will send F-35 fighters to Poland to protect NATO’s strategic logistics hub in Rzeszów from potential sabotage and missile strikes. The Norwegian Ministry of Defense has announced that the jets will be deployed over this important center for international military aid to Ukraine as early as this fall. 

Earlier, the US announced plans to redeploy some of its military equipment and personnel from the Polish military airport Jasionka, near Rzeszów, to other locations within Poland. US aircraft and troops began arriving in Jasionka shortly before Russia’s all-out war against Ukraine in February 2022.

Norwegian Defense Minister Tore Sandvik has emphasized the importance of this assistance to the defense of Ukraine.

“This is an extremely important contribution. We are helping ensure that aid reaches Ukraine and that the country can continue the fight for freedom,” he states. 

In June 2025, it became known that Rzeszów is also a center of Russian spy activity. Vasyl Malyuk, head of Ukraine’s Security Service, confirmed that several assassination attempts on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy were foiled in this city, UNIAN reports. 

They were organized by a retired Polish military man who had been recruited decades ago and firmly believed in the Soviet idea. The goal was the physical elimination of Zelenskyy at Rzeszów airport. Several options were considered: an FPV drone or a sniper system.

Vasyl Malyuk said that these plans were prevented due to cooperation with Poland’s special service, the Internal Security Agency (ABW), the counterpart of Ukraine’s SBU.