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Ukraine has denied Russia’s claims of having destroyed the US-made Patriot missile defense system during an overnight strike on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv this week. Kyiv said that such claims are just Russian propaganda.
On Wednesday, Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat told local television that Russia did not destroy its Patriot missile defense system during its overnight strike in Kyiv. Moscow made the claim on Tuesday, saying that its Kinzhal hypersonic missile destroyed a Patriot system in Kyiv. However, two US officials said that while a Patriot system was likely damaged, it did not seem to be destroyed.
“I want to say: Do not worry about the fate of the Patriot,” said Ihnat, ruling out the possibility that a Kinzhal missile was what destroyed the system. “Destroying the system with some kind of Kinzhal, it’s impossible. Everything that they say there, it can remain in their propaganda archive.”
On the same day Russia claimed to have destroyed a Patriot missile system, Kyiv claimed to have intercepted six Kinzhal missiles, which Moscow also denied. It remains to be seen which weapon Ukraine used to shoot down such missiles, which Russian leader Vladimir Putin claimed to be an example that Moscow has world-beating military weapons.
The Patriot missile system is one of the most sophisticated defense units provided to Ukraine by the West to aid in pushing back against Russian forces that invaded the country last year. It is also considered to be one of the most advanced US air defense systems.
On Thursday, Russian missiles continued to bombard Ukraine this week, killing one person in the port city of Odesa and the falling debris from destroyed missiles starting fires in two districts in Kyiv. Ukrainian military administration spokesman Serhiy Bratchuk said in a post on Telegram that two more people were wounded from the attack in Odesa.
“Most of the enemy’s missiles were shot down over the sea by the Air Defense Forces. Unfortunately, an industrial object was hit: one person died, two were injured,” said Bratchuk in the post.
Photo: 2nd Lt. Emily Park (US Army)/Wikimedia Commons(CC by 2.0)
