KYIV: Ukraine said on Friday it had taken receipt of its third German-supplied Patriot air defense system following months of pleas for equipment to protect its civilians and infrastructure from Russian air strikes.
\nMoscow renewed its aerial assaults on Ukraine\u2019s national power grid in the spring, causing sweeping blackouts. President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier this year his country needed at least seven additional Patriot systems to protect itself.
\nThe Ukrainian defense ministry said on X the system had already been delivered and thanked Germany for \u201cunwavering support.\u201d
\n\u201cIt will help improve the protection of civilians and infrastructure. The Ukrainian crew has successfully completed appropriate training in Germany,\u201d German Ambassador to Ukraine Martin Jaeger said on X.
\nKyiv has indicated it hopes for progress on the matter of air defense supplies at a NATO summit in Washington next week. A senior US State Department official has said Kyiv is expected to get \u201cgood news\u201d at the summit.
\nRussia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and regularly uses its arsenal of missiles and drones to conduct long-range strikes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KYIV: Ukraine said on Friday it had taken receipt of its third German-supplied Patriot air defense system following months of pleas for equipment to protect its civilians and infrastructure from Russian air strikes. Moscow renewed its aerial assaults on Ukraine\u2019s national power grid in the spring, causing sweeping blackouts. President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":416601,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-416590","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n