Russia claimed it destroyed a US-made Patriot missile protection system price about $1.1 billion throughout an enormous in a single day missile assault on Kyiv Monday night time, CNN reported.
Recall, on December 21, as a part of President Zelenskyy’s go to to the White Home, the Biden regime announced $1.85 billion in further safety help for Ukraine. This consists of the authorization of a Presidential Drawdown of safety help valued at as much as $1 billion – the Patriot missile battery.
The Patriot missile battery is a novel system designed to intercept incoming missiles and was delivered simply final month to Ukraine by the US and its NATO allies.
Russia bombarded Ukraine with the Kinzhal hypersonic missile, an air-launched ballistic missile that’s 10 occasions the velocity of sound.
It claimed it had obliterated the air protection system. The Russian Protection Ministry stated by means of Telegram that “a high-precision strike by the Kinzhal hypersonic missile system within the metropolis of Kyiv hit a US-made Patriot anti-aircraft missile system.”
Nevertheless, US officers refuted the declare and instructed CNN that it was probably broken however not destroyed.
CNN reported:
A US-made Patriot air defense system was probably broken, however not destroyed, as the results of a Russian missile barrage in and round Kyiv early Tuesday morning native time, a US official tells CNN.
The US continues to be assessing to what diploma the system was broken, the official stated. That may decide whether or not the system must be pulled again solely or just repaired on the spot by Ukrainians forces.
A US Nationwide Safety Council spokesperson referred CNN to the Ukrainian authorities for remark.
Ukrainian officers stated on Tuesday that they efficiently intercepted all six hypersonic missiles fired by the Russians, however the Ukrainian navy declined to touch upon the Russians’ declare {that a} Patriot system was hit. “We can not touch upon this. We’ll keep out of commenting on Russian sources,” stated the Ukrainian Air Drive spokesman, Yurii Ihnat.
Ukraine at the moment has two Patriot air protection programs in nation, one donated by the US and the opposite donated collectively by Germany and the Netherlands. It’s unclear which of these programs was probably broken, however taking one out of fee – even for a brief interval – might have an effect on Ukraine’s capacity to defend Kyiv amid intensifying Russian missile assaults.
