KYIV, Ukraine (Dispatches) — Ukraine’s defense minister said Wednesday his country has received the U.S.-made Patriot surface-to-air guided missile systems it has long craved and which Kyiv hopes will help shield it from Russian airstrikes during the war.
Ukrainian officials have previously said the arrival of Patriot systems, which Washington agreed to send last October, would be a major boost and a milestone in the war against Moscow. It’s the latest contribution from Kyiv’s Western allies, who have also pledged tanks, artillery and some types of fighter jets as Ukraine gears up for an expected counteroffensive.
China, which has repeatedly criticized the U.S. and other countries’ support for Ukraine as “adding fuel to the fire” of the war, has an “objective and fair stance” and seeks peace, the statement insisted.
The Patriot can target aircraft, cruise missiles and shorter-range ballistic missiles.
Germany’s federal government website on Tuesday listed a Patriot system as among the military data-x-items delivered within the past week to Ukraine, and 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.
South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol said that his country might extend its support for Ukraine beyond humanitarian and economic aid.
In an interview with Reuters ahead of his state visit to the U.S. next week, Yoon said his government has been exploring how to help defend and rebuild Ukraine.
The Kremlin on Wednesday warned any decision by South Korea to supply arms to Ukraine would make Seoul a participant in the conflict, after President Yoon Suk Yeol opened the door to such deliveries.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev suggested Moscow could offer advanced weapons to North Korea if South Korea begins to supply military aid to Ukraine.