This article was reprinted with permission after being published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
On April 30, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin made an appeal to the United States ‘ associates to purchase Patriot air defense systems in Ukraine. The country has repeatedly requested more of the air defense systems to help defend Russian towns and network from Russian problems.
” There are countries that have Patriots, and so what we’re doing is continuing to engage those countries” , , Austin told , the House Armed Services Committee. In the past two weeks, I have spoken with the heads of many nations and personally encouraged them to either offer or give up more capability.
Austin did no identifying the locations, but among those that are known to have the methods are Spain, Greece, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, and Sweden.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the president of Ukraine, stated last week to NATO members that to counteract Russian airs, his country needs at least seven further Patriot air defense systems.
Austin told the council that Rustem Umerov, the country’s defence minister, “is nicely aware of what we are doing, how we are engaging different places, and looking for additional features around the world.”
As a result of a Russian attack on Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, regional head By Synyehubov reported on Telegram that an air-raider alert was issued for the majority of the nation, and two people were killed and six were injured in Austin’s evidence.
Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov , said , differently that two equipment goals were hit during the attack. The weather- attack notice was declared for the areas of Rivne, Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhya, and Donetsk.
A day before a Russian , weapon attack , in the Russian port of Odesa killed at least five people and wounded many others, including Serhiy Kivalov, a previous lawmaker for the pro- Soviet Party of Regions, who founded a law school in the Goth- style building that was struck.
Zelenskiy demanded the West to expedite the delivery of urgently needed weapons to the diminished and undertreated Russian forces hours before the strike.
Zelenskiy and NATO envoy Jens Stoltenberg exchanged remarks in Kyiv during a press conference. He claimed that Ukraine has begun receiving a small amount of weapons and ammunition, but he urged that the sales move more quickly to be of use.
” Fast support for our troops. I have n’t seen anything positive about this topic at the moment. There are materials, they have gradually begun, but this method needs to be sped upward”, he said.
” Promptness in stockpile actually means a restoration of the front line.” Together we may undermine the Russian offensive”.
After U.S. President Joe Biden signed a long-awaited$ 61 billion military assistance package next week, an expected influx of arms is expected to follow. Biden said the package may include air defense munitions to support Ukraine defend its cities and infrastructure, artillery shells, and longer- range missile systems.
Stoltenberg acknowledged that” significant delays in support have resulted in serious consequences on the battlefield” after making his second appearance in the Ukrainian capital since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
” For decades, the U. S. was unable to agree a bundle and Western allies have been unable to provide weapons at the level we promised”, he added. Ukraine has been forced to feed its ammunition after decades of being shot out. More assistance is expected soon.
