Washington to send new Patriot missile system to Kyiv

WASHINGTON/KYIV — The United States will send another Patriot missile air defense system to Ukraine in the coming days, US media reported, citing unnamed administration and military officials.

News of the decision to provide the advanced system came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pleaded on Tuesday for more air defenses at the start of an intense week of diplomatic meetings with Western partners.

Zelensky has recently called for several additional Patriot systems, including two to defend the Kharkiv region, where Russia has recently been pressing a new offensive.

"Air defense is the answer," Zelensky told a reconstruction conference in Berlin on Tuesday.

The New York Times reported that the new Patriot system destined for Ukraine was currently deployed in Poland, defending a rotating US force slated to return to the US.

The Pentagon did not immediately comment on the transfer.

The delivery would be at least the second Patriot system sent to Ukraine by Washington.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, speaking at the same conference as Zelensky on Tuesday, urged allies to dig deeper into their arsenals to help "strengthen Ukraine's air defense with everything that is possible".

Germany has contributed three Patriot systems to Kyiv.

Ukraine would need between $10 billion and $30 billion in yearly investment within the next decade, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Tuesday.

"We need foreign investment and technology transfer from our partners," Shmyhal said while addressing the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin via a video link.

Shmyhal suggested that Ukraine is willing to use frozen Russian assets as a financing source for recovery.

Meanwhile, several explosions were heard on Wednesday morning in Kyiv, as Russia launched missile attacks against the country.

The Kyiv city military administration said air defense was operating in the city.

The missile and drone attacks caused a fire at an industrial facility, damaged residences and injured several people across six regions, local authorities said.

The attack came as a civilian man died and three people were injured by Ukrainian shelling in Shebekino town in Russia's Belgorod region, the governor of the region bordering Ukraine said on Wednesday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a presidential decree on Tuesday to update the composition of the Military-Industrial Commission and its board by appointing new members, including Defense Minister Andrey Belousov.

The commission is a government body responsible for supervising Russia's defense industry. The newly appointed members also include Anton Alikhanov, minister of Industry and Trade, and Alexey Dyumin, a presidential aide.

Agencies - Xinhua