US-made Patriot systems arrive in Kiev as West continues to fan flames of war

Ukraine’s defense minister says his country has received the US-made Patriot surface-to-air guided-missile systems as the West has promised Kiev a raft of new military aid worth billions of dollars despite Russia's warnings.

Oleksii Reznikov said on Wednesday said that the United States, Germany, and the Netherlands had "kept their word” after promising to provide Ukraine with the defense system.

“Today, our beautiful Ukrainian sky becomes more secure because Patriot air defense systems have arrived in Ukraine,” Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said in a tweet.

Reznikov further said that Ukrainian personnel has been trained on the Patriot battery, which can need as many as 90 troops to operate and maintain it.

“Our air defenders have mastered (the Patriot systems) as far as they could. And our partners have kept their word.”

A Patriot surface-to-air defense missile system was acquired by Ukraine last week from Germany.

Germany’s federal government website on Tuesday listed a Patriot system as among the military items delivered within the past week to Ukraine.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock confirmed that to lawmakers in Berlin on Wednesday. Baerbock also said Germany has delivered the second of four medium-range IRIS-T air defense systems that it pledged last year.

In January, Germany said that it was following the United States in sending one of the Patriot systems to Ukraine.

The Netherlands announced it would supply parts of the advanced air defense system to Ukraine, specifically two launchers and missiles.

The US has also committed two Patriot batteries and, in late March in Oklahoma, completed the training of 65 Ukrainian servicemen in their use. The Netherlands has also promised two Patriot units.

The Patriot was first deployed by the US in the 1980s. The system costs approximately $4 million per round and the launchers cost about $10 million each, analysts say.

Western allies pledge fresh weapons for Ukraine despite Russia’s warnings

Ukraine’s allies announce new military aid package despite Russia’s warnings of nuclear war.

The Patriot can target aircraft, cruise missiles and shorter-range ballistic missiles.

Ukrainian officials have previously said the arrival of Patriot systems would be a major boost.  Experts, however, have cautioned that the system’s effectiveness is limited, and it may not be a game changer in the war. 

Separately, the Ukrainian army said Wednesday that France's light AMX-10 RC armored fighting vehicles were "already in service.”

Ukraine's Western allies have also pledged tanks, artillery and some types of fighter jets. 

Russia says it launched the military operation in Ukraine in February last year in order to defend the pro-Russia population in the eastern Ukrainian regions of Luhansk and Donetsk against alleged persecution by Kiev.

Ever since the conflict began, Kiev's allies, led by the United States and Britain, have been supplying Ukraine with weapons, which Russian officials have repeatedly warned would only prolong the conflict.

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