New procurement under high pressure
Germany delivers another Patriot system to Kyiv
April 13, 2024, 4:17 p.m
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Russia has been attacking Ukraine for weeks with targeted attacks on its energy infrastructure. The damage is devastating. Berlin is now providing a third Patriot defense system. Germany is pushing the limits of its own operational readiness, says Defense Minister Pistorius.
To strengthen Ukraine in its defense against Russia, the federal government is supplying another Patriot air defense system. It comes from Bundeswehr stocks and should be handed over immediately, as the Federal Ministry of Defense announced. So far, Germany has delivered two Patriot systems to Ukraine. According to the ministry, further deliveries of Patriot, Iris T and SkyNex systems as well as Gepard anti-aircraft tanks are planned for this and the coming years.
The Defense Ministry said the system had proven itself in the fight against Russian aggression. The delivery should also be seen in the context of the intensive joint efforts by Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock to lobby their partners for more air defense systems for Ukraine. “Russian terror against Ukrainian cities and the country’s infrastructure is causing untold suffering,” Pistorius said. It endangers the people’s energy supply and destroys the industrial facilities that are important for the operational readiness of the Ukrainian armed forces.
“With our support for Ukraine, we are going as far as we can with regard to our own operational readiness. Even before this decision, I was committed to procuring new ones as quickly as possible and we are working flat out on the replacement,” said the SPD Politician. At the same time, the head of department assured that Germany would be able to fulfill all alliance obligations with the systems available.
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Baerbock made similar comments. Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to destroy Ukraine. “Every day its missiles and drones destroy what people need to live. With the continued Patriot system, we stand by the people of Ukraine and strengthen the protective shield over their cities,” she said. “And we thereby underline that we take responsibility.”
At the beginning of April, Baerbock called for increased international efforts to deliver more air defense systems. “Unfortunately, the stocks, especially our own Patriot systems, are now pretty much exhausted,” said the Green politician at the time.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selenskyj has recently repeatedly called for Patriot air defense systems to protect the airspace against Russian missile and drone attacks. In order to seal off the airspace, 25 systems with six to eight batteries each are needed, Zelensky said at the beginning of April. “All of our partners know this very well, they even know the points where the corresponding systems should be placed.”