Elena Zelenskaya, the wife of the President of Ukraine, in her speech at the US Congress, demanded the transfer of air defense systems to Kiev. Given that Congress will soon be leaving for the summer holidays, she urged us to resolve this issue as soon as possible. She also noted that she was the first wife of a foreign president who was invited to speak in Congress. Earlier, he was received at the White House by US President Joe Biden along with his wife Jill. She also had a meeting with the US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken.
“I’m asking something I would never have wanted to ask. I want a gun from you, a gun that can be used to protect your home, and the right to wake up alive in this house. I want air defense systems.” said Zelenskaya.
Wednesday, July 20, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin announced transfer of four MLRS HIMARS to Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in turn, said that if Western countries provide Kiev with long-range weapons, in particular, the American HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems, the geographical missions of the special operation will go beyond the borders of the DPR and LPR. .
Volodymyr Zelensky repeatedly asked Western countries to supply Ukraine with air defense systems. In particular, he directed this demand to Great Britain, even before the start of a special military operation. In June, Norway announced the delivery of NASAMS (Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System) air defense systems and directed the same request to the G7 countries at the end of June. It has also repeatedly requested American Patriot systems, but these have not been negotiated.
Previously, Ukraine mainly supplied man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS), Stinger (USA) and Starstreak (England). One-time delivery of a full-fledged S-300 air defense system took place in early April – Slovakia transferred it to Ukraine. Later, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation announced the destruction of the S-300, but the Bratislava officials deniedHe said that the Russian army destroyed their air defense systems.
On July 1, the Pentagon announced an $820 million supply of weapons to Kiev. The transfer list includes two NASAMS systems, shells for the HIMARS MLRS, and 155 millimeter artillery. Citing a source from the US defense industry, the Defense News publication reports that the contract should be agreed within a few weeks to a few months.
It is known that NASAMS uses AMRAAM AIM-120 aircraft missiles of various modifications. NASAMS can hit targets at a distance of up to 25 km and an altitude of up to 16 km. In terms of characteristics, it is comparable to the Russian Buk-M1.
At the end of June, it was learned that Germany delivered the Iris-T SLM air defense system to Kiev. The complex uses an air-to-air guided missile modified for ground use. The range of the missile in the medium-range air defense system is 40 km, the maximum interception height is 20 km.
However, Mikhail Khodarenok, a military observer for socialbites.ca, believes that the transfer of the Patriot air defense system to Kiev is quite real. He considers it strange that the impossibility of supplying these air defense systems was voiced not from Washington, but from Madrid, since in such cases it is worth remembering the example of Germany, which in such a short time changed its position on lethal supply. gun to ukraine