Kyiv seeks 27 Patriot systems from US
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Photo: REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko)
Kyiv wants to order 27 Patriot air defense systems from a US manufacturer, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with the Guardian on Nov. 9. after a devastating Russian drone and missile attack on the country’s energy grid.
In the meantime, European states could lend Ukraine their existing Patriots.
Kyiv is working closely with international partners to protect Ukraine from nightly Russian drone swarms. However, the UK and other allies have so far ruled out the longstanding request to send fighter jets to patrol the skies above central and western Ukraine.
When asked if the EU and UK were doing enough ahead of a freezing and dark winter, Zelenskyy replied: “It’s never enough. It’s enough when the war ends. And enough when Putin understands that he has to stop.”
London and Paris have promised to send troops as part of a future peace agreement, but the prospect of a European military presence in Ukraine amid ongoing conflict is a delicate matter.
“Leaders are afraid of their societies. They don’t want to be involved in the war,” Zelenskyy said.
Ultimately, it is their choice whether to deploy troops. If he pushed too hard, Kyiv could lose financial and military support from its partners.
On Nov. 8, Russian forces struck energy infrastructure in five Ukrainian oblasts, damaging gas facilities and triggering emergency power outages in eight regions. The enemy fired 45 missiles and 458 drones of various types.
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