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Patriot air-defense system based in Israel to be refurbished, sent to Ukraine
A Patriot air-defense system that was based in Israel will be refurbished and sent to Ukraine, The New York Times reported Sunday, citing four current and former US officials.
The Biden administration secured the agreement with Israel to move the system, a former White House official told the Times, though the delivery has not previously been reported.
The Patriot is an older model, two US officials told the Times.
In January, it was reported that the US took 90 Patriot interceptors out of storage in Israel and sent them to Poland to pass on to Ukraine.
In addition to the Patriot from Israel, the US is seeking to transfer to Ukraine another system from Germany or Greece, according to the Sunday report.
Ukraine currently has eight Patriot systems, and has asked repeatedly for more since Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022.
Since taking office, US President Donald Trump has dismissed the pleas from Ukraine for more Patriots, even deriding Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for his effort to secure them, and falsely blaming him for starting the war.
“You don’t start a war against someone 20 times your size and then hope that people give you some missiles,” Trump said at the White House last month.
In recent days, however, Trump has been more critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin, as Moscow has launched deadly barrages of missiles and drones at Ukrainian cities.
Late last month, Trump posted on social media that “there was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days.”
“It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through “Banking” or “Secondary Sanctions?” Too many people are dying!!!” he wrote.
His post came after meeting with Zelensky on the sidelines of Pope Francis’s funeral in the Vatican.
Saturday night, Russia launched a mass drone attack on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, hitting a high-rise apartment block, triggering fires and injuring 46 people, according to local officials.
Zelensky denounced the drone strikes, which hit Ukrainian cities several times a week, and said Ukraine’s allies were moving too slowly in helping beef up its air defense capability.
“There were no military targets, nor could there be any. Russia strikes dwellings when Ukrainians are in their homes, when they are putting their children to bed,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram.
“As the world delays decisions, almost every night in Ukraine turns into a horror that results in the loss of lives. Ukraine needs stronger air defenses. Stronger and real decisions from our partners: the United States, Europe, all our partners who seek peace.”
Source. times of Israel