Patriot etc.

Ukraine’s military wants to ask for US missile defense

The Ukrainian military would like to have Patriot missile systems (photo) to be able to defend against Russian missiles.

(Bild: AFP)

Following the impact of a Russian medium-range missile in Ukraine on Thursday - as reported by krone.at - the country's military is negotiating with the USA about systems to defend against intercontinental missiles.

"Ukraine does not have the means to shoot down intercontinental missiles, but the Americans do," an unnamed representative of the armed forces told the state news agency Ukrinform in Kiev. "Ukraine will turn to the US for the delivery of such weapons," he said.

Modernized versions of the Patriot air defence system and the Aegis Ashore missile defence system were mentioned. The USA has maintained such Aegis defense shields in Romania since 2016 and also in Poland a few days ago. They are supposedly directed against possible Iranian attacks, but Moscow also sees them as a defense against its missiles.

Medium-range missile fired at Dnipro
According to President Vladimir Putin, Russia demonstratively fired a new medium-range missile with multiple warheads at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Thursday. He threatened further missile strikes against Ukraine, but also against its supporting countries.

Due to the constant Russian air strikes, Ukraine's air defense has already been strengthened with major foreign aid, but without being able to protect the entire country, which has been under attack for more than 1,000 days.

The defense rate against drones and older Soviet missiles and cruise missiles is good. The Ukrainian air defense is almost always powerless against Iskander missiles and new Russian hypersonic weapons.