US Finalizing Plan to Send Patriot Air Defense System to Ukraine
By Staff, Agencies
The United States is finalizing plans to send its sophisticated Patriot air defense system to Ukraine following an urgent request from Kiev, which wants more robust weapons to shoot down Russian missiles and drones.
Washington could announce a decision on the Patriot as soon as Thursday, the Reuters and Associated Press news agencies reported, citing US government officials.
Ukraine’s air defense systems were tested again early on Wednesday morning, Mayor Vitali Klitschko saying emergency services had been dispatched to the Shevchenkivskyi district after explosions were heard.
“Details later,” he added on his Telegram channel.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky pressed Western leaders as recently as Monday to provide more advanced weapons to his country. The Patriot would be the most advanced surface-to-air missile system the West has provided to Ukraine.
Gaining Patriot air defense capability would be “very, very significant” for Kiev, said Alexander Vindman, a retired Army lieutenant colonel and onetime leader of Ukraine policy at the White House.
“These are going to be quite capable of dealing with a lot of different challenges the Ukrainians have, especially if the Russians bring in short-range ballistic missiles.”
The Pentagon declined to comment and there was no immediate comment from Ukrainian officials.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has warned NATO against equipping Kiev with Patriot missile defenses, and it is likely the Kremlin will view the move as an escalation.
Russia waged its special military operation in Ukraine on February 24.
The US has given Ukraine $19.3bn in military assistance since the invasion, which is Europe’s biggest conflict since World War Two.
The US and its allies have been delivering more air defenses to Kiev, everything from Soviet-era systems to more modern, Western ones.
In Paris, about 70 countries and institutions pledged just over 1 billion euros [$1.06 billion] to help maintain Ukraine’s water, food, energy, health and transport in the face of Russia’s attacks, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said.
In his nightly video address, Zelensky hailed the pledges as good news.
“Every day, we are gaining new strength for Ukraine to get us through this winter,” he said.
In an address to New Zealand’s parliament on Wednesday, he also called for more assistance to deal with the mines and unexploded ordnance created by the conflict.
“As of now, 174,000 square kilometers [67,000 square miles] of Ukrainian territory are contaminated with mines and unexploded ordnance,” Zelensky told legislators.
Zelensky urged New Zealand, whose military has extensive experience in mine clearing, to help lead the clean-up effort.
“There is no real peace for any child who can die from a hidden Russian antipersonnel mine,” he said.
White House and Pentagon leaders have argued consistently that providing Ukraine with additional air defenses is a priority, and Patriot missiles have been under consideration for some time.
One of the US officials told the Reuters news agency that Ukrainian forces would probably be trained in Germany before the Patriot equipment was delivered. Vindman said the training could take several months.
The administration’s potential approval of a Patriot battery was first reported by CNN.
According to officials, the US plan would be to send one Patriot battery. A truck-mounted Patriot battery includes up to eight launchers, each of which can hold four missiles.
The entire system, which includes a phased array radar, a control station, computers and generators, typically requires about 90 soldiers to operate and maintain. However, only three soldiers are needed to actually fire it, according to the US Army.
