Zelenskyy says Israeli Patriot already operates in Ukraine, more on the way
Photo: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
Israel has delivered a Patriot air defense system to Ukraine, which has been protecting Ukrainian skies for a month. Ukraine is also expecting two more systems, said President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during a briefing with journalists.
"The Israeli system is operating in Ukraine. It has been working for a month. We will receive two Patriot systems in the fall. That’s all. I won’t say more about Patriot," the President said.
It should be noted that the two additional Patriots are not coming from Israel. They are part of deliveries from other partners, most likely from Germany.
Patriot systems from Israel and Germany
On June 9, Israeli Ambassador to Ukraine Michael Brodsky said that his country had delivered Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine.
"These are Israeli systems that were in service with Israel in the early 1990s. We agreed to transfer them to Ukraine," he said.
However, shortly afterward, the Israeli Foreign Ministry denied this, saying the country had not transferred Patriot systems to Ukraine.
On June 14, President Zelenskyy explained that Israel had sent one Patriot to the United States for refurbishment. No Israeli system was yet on Ukrainian territory.
"We are grateful if this is indeed meant for us. I say 'if' because we don't have it yet. If we had it, I would say yes — Israel gave it to us — and I wouldn’t have to go through this long chain of who gave what and why. The system was sent to the US for restoration. From America, it has not yet arrived in Ukraine," the President explained.
In July, Brodsky confirmed that Israel did not deliver the Patriot directly to Ukraine. The systems went to the United States, where they are undergoing modernization before possible deployment to Kyiv.
A few weeks ago, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said his country is in the process of supplying Ukraine with two complete Patriot air defense systems.
