‘A dream’: Patriot systems arrive in Ukraine
The missile defense systems have been at the top of Kyiv’s wish list.
Patriot missile defense systems from Western allies arrived in Ukraine on Wednesday, Ukrainian officials announced.
Throughout the invasion, Russia has bombarded Ukraine with airstrikes, repeatedly targeting its energy grid and infrastructure. As a result, Patriots, a sophisticated system designed to shoot down airplanes and missiles, have been at the top of Kyiv’s wish list.
“Do you know how to visualize a dream? We must tell about it to the world and give it life!” Oleksii Reznikov, Ukraine’s defense minister, wrote in a tweet Wednesday morning. “Today, our beautiful Ukrainian sky becomes more secure because Patriot air defense systems have arrived in Ukraine.”
One of the systems was donated by the United States, while another was jointly gifted by Germany and the Netherlands.
Ukrainian troops have been training on the systems in recent months in what U.S. military officials called an “absolutely a quick study.” Soldiers began training at Fort Sill, Okla., in January and were expected to take up to a year, but were almost ready to use the systems in battle last month, the officials said. They also completed training in Europe alongside the Dutch and German militaries.
The delivery marks the end of Reznikov’s lengthy effort to secure the defense systems, he said, as he asked allies for Patriots during a visit to the U.S. two years ago — months before the war broke out.
He pleaded with U.S. officials, telling them “our country’s liberty and independence are under threat. And what did we hear? It’s impossible! But the impossible is possible,” Reznikov wrote.