Last April 13, Russia He launched an attack with Iskander-M ballistic missiles against the city of Sumy, in the northeastern Ukraineleaving at least 36 dead and 119 injured. The bombing, which occurred during Ramos Sunday, is the deadliest against Ukrainian civilians so far this year. The lethal Russian action showed again that Ukraine needs more anti -aircraft systems, something that the president reiterated on Tuesday Volodymyr Zelensky confirming that he was willing to buy American patriot systems.
Russia He affirmed that the objective of the attack was a meeting of Ukrainian military officers and assured that more than 60 soldiers died, although he did not present evidence in this regard.
For its part, Zelensky energetically condemned the bombing And he described him as “Deliberate terrorism” against civilians. He urged the international community to intensify the sanctions against Russia already provide more air defense systems to protect the Ukrainian population.
A Romanian Army Patriot launch system is on the exhibition during an army drill on November 15, 2023. (Photo by Daniel Mihailescu / AFP).
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On Tuesday, after a meeting in ODESA with NATO general, Mark Rutte, Zelensky He reiterated that You have interest in buying at least 10 patriot systems to protect your country from Russian attacks.
“The Patriot They are a type of defensive armament, not only do we ask for patriot systems, we are willing to buy them, ”Zelensky said in their social networks.
The weekend, Zelensky had said in an interview with the American CBS chain that was willing to spend about $ 15,000 million to buy 10 patriot antiacere systems.
Zelensky He said that their European partners have enough systems Patriot as to meet the needs of Ukraineand stressed to green them or not to kyiv is “a political decision.”
At this point, it should be noted that since it is sophisticated weapons, usually the sale or transfer to third countries is made with the approval of the manufacturer, in this case USA.
On Monday, when asked about the subject, Trump replied that Zelensky “It’s always looking to buy missiles,” and blamed again Ukraine for the beginning of the war.
“You don’t start a war against someone 20 times bigger and then people are expected to give you missiles,” Trump said.
It must be remembered that last March, during a telephone conversation, Zelensky requested to Trump The acquisition of systems Patriotand The Republican promised to help Ukraine obtain them, especially those available in Europe.
The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, on a visit to a military training field in Germany where the Patriot Antiaereo System is seen, on June 11, 2024. (Photo by Jens Böttner / Pool / AFP).
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Although it has not been officially informed about an exact number, It is believed that Ukraine has received at least four patriot defense systemsall with the approval of the government of Democrat Joe Biden and supplied by the United States, Germany, the Netherlands and Romania. That number is not enough to protect the entire territory.
The exact location of the systems Patriot In Ukraine it has not been revealed for security reasons, but it is known that at least one is deployed in kyivwhere it has been used to intercept Russian ballistic missiles such as Kinzhal.
How are Patriot systems?
Patriot are one of the best anti -aircraft defense systems in the world. This weapon was designed in the 60s and its production began in 1976.
They are able to tear down cruise and hypersonic missilesshort -range ballistic missiles and airplanes.
The Patriot They are manufactured by the company Raytheon Technologies.
The system consists of batteries that include A command center, a radar station to detect imminent threats and eight pitcherseach of which has four missiles.
Its scope is between 40 kilometers and 160 kilometers, depending on the type of missile used.
This is how the Patriot anti -aircraft system works. (AFP).
According to the United States Army, only three soldiers are needed to operate and shoot the missiles at the combat control station of the Patriot. However, The entire system requires about 90 soldiers to operate and maintain.
The system operation begins with the detection of an objective by the radar that tracks it to calculate the trajectory and speed. Then The threat communicates to the command center, where there will be a human operator or a computer system that executes the shooting order. Information about the monitoring of the interceptor missile and 3 seconds later a missile begins to travel 5 times the speed of sound To destroy the threat.
The system Patriot Use PAC-3 interceptor missiles, which have their own radar capable of detecting the target and addressing it autonomously.
Patriot are the most expensive team delivered by the United States to Ukraine. They have an estimated cost of US $ 1.1 billion.
In addition, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Each patriot missile costs about US $ 4 million.
The Patriot They were used against missiles ScudRussian manufacturing, launched by Iraq during the first 1990 Gulf War.
They were also deployed in 2003, during the American invasion of Iraq.
Among the countries that have the system Patriot There are Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Israel and South Korea.
In addition, the United States has deployed its own Patriot in Poland and Saudi Arabiaand has approved the sale to Kuwait, Bahrain and United Arab Emirates.
