Ukraine has not yet received Patriot air defence system from Israel – Zelenskyy

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has told journalists that a Patriot air defence system which Kyiv was due to receive from Israel via the United States has not yet arrived.

Source: Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne

Details: Zelenskyy said an agreement on the supply of air defence systems with Israel did exist, although initially it did not cover the US-made Patriot systems.

The president said that Ukraine had initially negotiated with Israel to acquire Israeli-Indian Barak 8 air defence systems, but that due to the attack on Israel by Hamas in autumn 2023, the delivery never took place. Ukraine then approached the United States requesting a Patriot system that Israel could send for refurbishment.

Quote: "We received information that we could count on receiving some older models of the Patriot. That is, there are systems that are operational and there are donors willing to help repair them. There were some systems in Israel that could work if slightly refurbished. Eventually, one system was handed over by Israel to the United States to be repaired. We have not yet seen this system on Ukrainian territory."

Background: Earlier, Israeli Ambassador to Ukraine Michael Brodsky stated that Israel had transferred Patriot air defence systems which it received from the US in the early 1990s to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

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