Germany to send Ukraine additional Patriot air defence system
- The announcement comes as Kyiv struggles on the battlefield against Moscow’s forces, hobbled by a lack of foreign aid and a shortage of men and ammunition
- It will be the third Patriot system that Germany has supplied to Ukraine. Berlin has become the nation’s second-biggest supplier of military aid, after the United States
KGermany will send an additional Patriot air defence system to Ukraine to bolster its hard-pressed military and help it fend off increased Russian aerial attacks, Berlin said Saturday.
“Russian terror against Ukrainian cities and the country’s infrastructure is causing immeasurable suffering,” said German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, announcing the move.
“It is jeopardising people’s energy supply and destroying the operational readiness of the Ukrainian armed forces.”
It will be the third Patriot system that Berlin has supplied to Kyiv, with the defence ministry saying the decision was taken at the request of the Ukrainian government and in coordination with allies.
The announcement comes as Kyiv struggles on the battlefield against Moscow’s forces, hobbled by a lack of foreign aid, as well as a shortage of men and ammunition.
Russia has been stepping up aerial attacks on Ukraine. On Thursday Moscow pounded the country’s energy facilities, destroying a power station in the Kyiv region.
After the outbreak of the Ukraine war in 2022, Germany dropped a traditionally pacifist stance and has become Ukraine’s second-biggest supplier of military aid, after the United States.
