How NATO countries put together a Patriot puzzle to protect Ukrainian cities (infographic)
The devastating attacks carried out yesterday by the Russians in Kyiv, Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih, Sloviansk and Kramatorsk once again demonstrate how desperately Ukraine needs the help of the West in air defense. Although Kyiv’s air defenses can shoot down the vast majority of Russian missiles, a number of Russian hits cause massive destruction. The destruction of the power system is becoming more and more catastrophic. As a result of the latest attack, three substations were damaged in Kyiv alone.
A few days ago, Ukraine received another Patriot battery from Germany and now has four defense systems of this type. Zelensky invited a total of seven Patriots. Final commitments on the three additional systems are expected to come from the US, the Netherlands and Romania at the NATO summit.
“New air defense systems are the most concrete help Ukraine is likely to receive at the summit,” – Kyivpost writes, expressing doubts about other offers to Ukraine from NATO.
At the same time, the supply of air defense, – notes the publication The Neue Zürcher Zeitung, – does not change the fact that precious time was lost.
And Russia used it to cause damage to Ukrainian infrastructure, which costs many times more than air defense equipment. In addition, seven Patriot systems are considered the absolute minimum to protect the most important cities. Therefore, large parts of the country will have no or insufficient protection.
What support does the event promise?
Biden, who called yesterday’s missile terror “a terrible reminder of Russia’s brutality,” promised to take measures to strengthen Ukraine’s defense. Germany and Romania have already responded to Kyiv’s request for Patriot, promising to provide one additional system each. At the same time, Italy announced that it would donate the advanced air defense system SAMP/T.
USA too are negotiating about sending the Israeli Patriot system to Ukraine.
And the Netherlands is leading the effort to create the Patriot missile system from various components from the stockpiles of different countries. Edition The New York Times calls this initiative putting together the “Patriot puzzle”.
