Ukraine - American-made Patriot missiles have arrived in Ukraine, according to the country's defense minister, providing Kyiv with a long-needed new barrier against Russian bombings that have decimated cities and civilian infrastructure.
In October, the United States agreed to supply the surface-to-air missiles, which can target planes, cruise missiles, and shorter-range ballistic missiles like those employed by Russia to strike residential areas and the Ukrainian power infrastructure.
“Today, our beautiful Ukrainian sky becomes more secure,” Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said in a tweet.
Western allies have reportedly committed tanks, artillery, and some types of fighter planes as Ukraine prepares for an expected counteroffensive. Reznikov expressed gratitude to the United States, Germany, and the Netherlands without specifying how many missile systems had been sent or when they would arrive.
Yurii Ihnat, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian air force, said late Tuesday that the arrival of the systems will be a watershed moment, allowing Ukrainians to hit Russian targets from a longer range.
On Tuesday, Germany's federal government website named a Patriot system as one among the military assets supplied to Ukraine in the previous week. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock confirmed this to MPs in Berlin on Wednesday.
Germany has also delivered the second of four medium-range IRIS-T air defense systems agreed last year, according to Baerbock.
Reznikov stated that he initially requested Patriot systems in August 2021, five months before Russia's full-fledged invasion and seven years after Russia unjustly invaded Ukraine's Crimean peninsula. He characterized owning the system as a "dream," but he was informed in the United States at the time that it was "impossible."
Ukrainian troops have been taught to run and maintain the Patriot battery, which takes up to 90 people to operate and maintain.
Experts have warned that the system's usefulness is limited and that it may not dramatically alter the course of the war, although adding to Ukraine's armory against its larger adversary.
The Patriot was originally used by the United States in the 1980s. According to experts, the system costs roughly $4 million each missile, while the launchers cost about $10 million apiece. At this price, it's not financially effective to employ the Patriot to shoot down the smaller, less expensive Iranian drones that Russia has been buying and operating in Ukraine.
