Germany announced on Friday that, as it battles to stave off a furious Russian strike campaign, Ukraine now has the newest Patriot air defense system that it provided.
“The third Patriot air defence system from Germany has already arrived in Ukraine,” Martin Jaeger, German Ambassador to Ukraine, wrote on X, after Berlin announced in April it would supply the system to Kyiv.
Ukraine has been pleading with its allies in the West to deliver additional air defenses, focusing on US-made Patriot systems that are able to stop Russian hypersonic missiles.
After more than two years of Russian invasion, Ukraine’s ability to generate electricity has been severely damaged by missile barrages and drone assaults. As a result, Kyiv has been compelled to implement scheduled power outages and import supplies from the European Union.
The system’s arrival coincides with Germany’s April vow to supply the extra Patriot battery.
Moscow frequently claims to have taken control of additional settlements in eastern Ukraine, and Kyiv’s outgunned and outmatched forces are finding it difficult to repel the Russian invasion.
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 Washington.
Berlin has provided a vast assortment of additional armaments, including armored battle vehicles and artillery, in addition to Patriots.
Germany has been under fire in recent months over Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s refusal to approve the purchase of long-range Taurus missiles, even though Germany has been sending billions of euros worth of military goods to Ukraine.
Germany worries that targets located far within Russia could be struck by the missiles.
