Ukrainian soldiers arrived at a US military base in Oklahoma (south-central US) on Sunday for training in the use of the Patriot air defense system, which Washington will provide to Kyiv.
“Soldiers from the Ukrainian Army have arrived here,” at the military base at Fort Still, “to start training in anti-aircraft defense,” Curtis King, the gunnery school commander, told Fox News.
“This training will focus on handling and maintaining the Patriot anti-aircraft system,” he said.
The United States has sent the most modern anti-aircraft system to Ukraine without precedent since the beginning of the war. Kyiv has long required these Patriots to deal with air attacks from Russia.
Le bilan d’une frappe Russe, samedi à Dnipro (centre-est de l’Ukraine), sur an immeuble d’habitation s’est eleve à 40 morts lundi dernier, devenant l’un des plus importants for un bombardement depuis le début from the war. This balance sheet is likely to increase further.
The US Department of Defense indicated on January 10 that the training, which begins in Oklahoma, will employ “between 90 and 100 Ukrainian soldiers.”
Gen. Pat Raider, the aircraft carrier, added the Pentagon’s word: “Once on land, the Patriot (…) will contribute to Ukraine’s air defense and provide the Ukrainian people with additional means to defend themselves against existing Russian air attacks.” .
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said during his surprise visit to Washington in late December, during which this new military aid was announced, that the delivery of such a tool was “a very important step in creating safe airspace for Ukraine.”
Patriot missiles are particularly capable of shooting down cruise missiles, short-range ballistic missiles, and aircraft at much higher altitudes than defense systems introduced to date.
At the moment, the United States plans to deliver a battery of Patriot missiles to Ukraine, each of which costs three million dollars.
