KYIV (Reuters) – Germany and Ukraine have agreed on the supply of additional Patriot air defence missile systems to Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his evening address on Wednesday.
“Today there is good news from Germany – exactly what we agreed with (German Chancellor) Olaf Scholz. There are additional Patriot systems. Thank you very much, Olaf, it is necessary for the defence of our people against Russian terror,” Zelenskiy said.
Earlier on Wednesday, Germany announced its decision to ship two more Patriot launchers to Ukraine.
“This will definitely bring us closer to creating a full-fledged air shield for Ukraine. This will help people, cities, villages,” Zelenskiy said.
Ground-based air defence systems such as Raytheon’s Patriot are built to intercept incoming missiles.
They are, however, in short supply across NATO since many allies scaled down the number of air defence units after the Cold War.
(Reporting by Oleksandr Kozhukhar in Kyiv; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
