WASHINGTON (Dispatches) - Ukrainian troops are set to begin training on the Patriot missile system in the United States as soon as next week, the Pentagon announced.
The training program will take place at Fort Sill in Oklahoma, where the U.S. conducts its own training on operating and maintaining the advanced air defense system. Fort Sill is one of the Army’s four basic training locations and home to the service’s field artillery school, which has been training service members for more than a century.
During the war the U.S. has trained Ukrainian troops in Europe, but the decision to conduct patriot training on American soil could increase tensions with Moscow further as Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has constantly warned western nations against further involvement in the war.
The training process and eventual deployment of the defensive weapons system, which had long been requested by Kyiv, will take months and won’t impact the course of the war in the short-term though once it’s completed it should provide better protection against Russian missile attacks that have devastated the country’s infrastructure.
Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov has said the Pentagon’s decision to train Ukrainian servicemen to use and service Patriot missile defense systems at the U.S. Army base in Fort Sill, Oklahoma, is yet another proof of Washington’s involvement in the Ukrainian conflict.
“The decision by the U.S. Department of Defense to organize training at Fort Sill in Oklahoma is another confirmation of Washington’s de facto involvement in the Ukrainian conflict on the side of Nazi criminals from Kiev,” the Russian diplomatic mission’s press service quoted him as saying.
“It is noteworthy that our efforts to bring to the attention of the American audience the true danger of such a line by the White House are step by step recognized by the local expert community,” the Russian diplomat continued. “For example, Washington Post observers openly admitted that the training of Ukrainian troops in the United States means that U.S. involvement into the confrontation is growing. They noted that the administration is no longer limiting itself to strengthening the defense potential of Kiev, but is transferring new weapons to the republic in order to increase its offensive capabilities.”