Ukraine has received three more launchers for its scarce but vital Patriot air defense systems, according to government officials in Kyiv and the Netherlands, as Russia bombards the war-torn country with missile and drone strikes.
Dutch defense minister Ruben Brekelmans said on Thursday that the Netherlands had delivered three Patriot launchers to Ukraine. The Ukrainian government confirmed in its own statement that the Netherlands had handed over three Patriot launchers, saying Kyiv was "grateful" for the transfer.
"Ukrainians face a harsh winter as devastating air raids continue," Brekelmans said in a post to social media. "This saves lives and protects vital infrastructure."
Oekraïners gaan een zware winter tegemoet, want de verwoestende luchtaanvallen gaan maar door.
Daarom leverden we 3 Patriot-lanceerbuizen. Dit redt mensenlevens en beschermt vitale infrastructuur.
Het is en blijft in ons gezamenlijk belang de Russische agressie tegen te houden. pic.twitter.com/J5yEcq3V11
Kyiv officials have long lobbied hard for more air defense systems to shield the country from Russia's persistent campaign of missile, drone and highly destructive glide bomb strikes. Russia has upped its targeting of Ukraine's critical infrastructure in recent weeks as the winter sets in across the country.
Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow had fired an experimental nonnuclear intermediate-range ballistic missile at a factory in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro.
The Kremlin leader touted this missile—named by Moscow as Oreshnik, or "hazel bush"—as unstoppable.
Shortly after the strike on central Ukraine last week, Ukraine's Interfax news agency reported that Kyiv was working on getting hold of upgrades to Patriot systems or a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, known as THAAD, citing anonymous sources in Ukraine's military command.
This system is specifically designed to intercept ballistic missiles, and the U.S. transferred a THAAD battery to Israel in mid-October after Iran launched a second large-scale attack on the country.
Several NATO countries have supplied Patriot systems—or parts contributing to a full battery—to Ukraine. The U.S. has provided three batteries, plus ammunition for the vaunted surface-to-air missile system.
U.S. President Joe Biden announced in July during a NATO summit that "in the coming months, the United States and partners intend to provide Ukraine with dozens of tactical air defense systems."
These include Patriots, but also German-made self-propelled Gepard anti-aircraft guns, NASAMS medium-range air defense systems and variants of IRIS-T missile systems. Washington has provided 12 NASAMS, according to Pentagon documents. Germany's military said earlier this week it would send an additional two IRIS-T systems to Ukraine in the next few weeks.
The Patriot is considered the gold standard of air defense. It has been credited with intercepting missiles Russia has labeled as hypersonic.
In late October, Norway said it would help Romania to fund the delivery of another Patriot to Ukraine.
A spokesperson for the Romanian Defense Ministry told the U.S.-backed Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty in early October that Bucharest had delivered a Patriot system to Ukraine.
On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had launched 188 strike drones overnight, marking a record.
In a statement on Thursday, Zelensky said Moscow had fired more than 90 missiles and almost 100 drones at Ukraine in overnight strikes.
Kyiv's air force said on Thursday that Russia had fired 57 Kh-101 cruise missiles and 28 Kalibr cruise missiles, as well as six guided missiles.
"The enemy's missile and drone strike was aimed at Ukraine's energy facilities," the air force said.
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