High-rise hit in Dnipro
Ukraine: Need Patriot vs Missile
01/15/2023 1:48 p.m
A Russian attack on a high-rise building in Dnipro has killed numerous people. The Ukrainian army says it can’t do anything against these types of cruise missiles – but the anti-aircraft systems of its western partners can.
According to Ukraine, it is defenseless against the KH-22 cruise missile deployed by Russia. The Air Force Command writes on its Facebook page that the Ukrainian army does not have the firepower to shoot down this guided missile, which was still being developed in the Soviet Union. On Saturday, Russia fired five KH-22 guided missiles against Ukraine. According to the military, one of them struck the skyscraper in Dnipro, where the death toll has now increased to 21. Dozens of people are injured and dozens more are still missing.
The missiles were fired from Russia’s Kursk region and the Sea of Azov by five Tu-22М3 long-range supersonic bombers, the Ukrainian Air Force said. Flight altitude and speed of the cruise missiles were recorded by radar. However, the Ukrainian armed forces did not have the firepower “that could shoot down this type of missile”.
“Only anti-aircraft missile systems that Western partners could make available to Ukraine in the future are capable of intercepting these weapons,” the military said. The Air Force refers to anti-aircraft defenses such as the Patriot PAC-3 systems from the USA or SAMP-T, which Italy wants to make available to Ukraine. According to the Air Force Command, Russia has fired more than 210 such guided missiles at Ukraine since the war began almost eleven months ago. None of them were shot down by an air defense system.
Ukraine is to receive Patriot systems from the USA and Germany – when is not yet known. Washington had promised Kyiv in December the delivery of a Patriot air defense system. Later, Germany also agreed to supply a Patriot anti-aircraft missile battery. The training of up to 100 Ukrainian soldiers will begin “as early as next week” in the US state of Oklahoma, Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said on Tuesday. The training is expected to last several months.
The defense system is intended to offer Ukraine protection against Russia’s attacks on the energy infrastructure, among other things. The ground-based Patriot system is mobile, the launchers can be mounted on trucks and use their guided missiles to destroy aircraft, missiles and cruise missiles in the air.