US finalizes Patriot air defense plan for Ukraine

• The US is finalizing plans to send its sophisticated Patriot air defense system to Ukraine.
• There was an urgent request from Kyiv.
• Kyiv wants more robust weapons to shoot down Russian missiles and drones.

The US is finalizing plans to send its sophisticated Patriot air defense system to Ukraine after an urgent request from Kyiv. Kyiv wants more robust weapons to shoot down Russian missiles and drones that have devastated the country’s energy infrastructure and left millions without heating this winter.

US government officials told Reuters and AP that Washington could announce a Patriot decision Thursday.

Emergency services were summoned to Shevchenkivskyi after explosions were heard, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked for modern weapons on Monday. Patriot is the most advanced SAM system the West has given Ukraine.

Gaining Patriot air defense capacity would be “very, very significant” for Kyiv, said former White House Ukraine strategy chief Alexander Vindman.

“These can handle many of the Ukrainians’ issues, especially if the Russians bring in short-range ballistic missiles.”

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev urged NATO against providing Kyiv with Patriot missile defenses, which the Kremlin may regard as an escalation.

Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 and is presently fighting in the industrialized Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.

Since the invasion, the US has paid Ukraine $19.3bn in military aid.

Due to Russia’s continuous onslaught, the US and its allies are deploying more air defenses to Kyiv, from Soviet-era to sophisticated Western systems.

As temperatures drop, millions of residents lose power, heat, and water.

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