With anti-missile systems “Patriot” Ukraine is preparing for a counteroffensive against Russian troops

Ukraine received the long-awaited Patriot anti-aircraft systems in time to launch a counteroffensive, which could force the Russian military to abandon its plans in the Donbas.

“patriots for patriots (…) The impossible is possible. Today, the beautiful Ukrainian skies are safer thanks to protection systems patriot who came to UkraineThis was announced in his Twitter account by the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov.

Within hours of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky lamenting delays in Western supplies, Kyiv announced the landing of Patriots, as well as a new batch of Western batteries and tanks.

But when USA announced his commitment to Kyiv back in December, Russian President Vladimir Putin has already assured that patriot they were “quite old” and not as good as the Russian S-300s.

“We’ll crush them” like nuts, he warned.

Patriot against Russian missiles

Reznikov thanked USA, Germany And Holland for sending patriotswhich the Ukrainian military has learned to use “as soon as possible.”

“We will win together,” he assured.

Representative of the Ukrainian Air Force Yuriy Ignat stressed that “these systems can hit targets at a distance of up to 150 kilometers, which will allow us to push Russian aviation away from our borders.”

In addition, he specified that patriot they can also shoot down ballistic missiles up to 40 kilometers away.

“The sooner they enter service, the better, because we will be able to react and do what we have been talking about for a long time,” he stressed.

As with the HIMARS salvo launchers that allowed Kyiv to seize the initiative in mid-2022 by hitting Russian rears and supply lines, the Patriots can now stop Russian attacks.

“These anti-aircraft systems will allow us to defend against Russian cruise missiles and drones,” Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Oleksandr Pavlyuk added on Facebook.

patriot they can shoot down aircraft, ground-launched Iskander cruise missiles, and Kalibri launched by Russia from the Black and Caspian Seas to destroy Ukrainian civilian infrastructure.

Spanish Leopard and French cars

In addition, Germany also sent to Kyiv the second of the four Iris-T anti-aircraft systems that it was promised, a batch including 16 missiles.

Eight Canadian Leopard 2s also landed on the territory of Ukraine, and the first six Leopard 2 6A4, which is going to be sent to Spain Kyiv They are already in the port of Santander, from where they will soon leave for Poland.

The day before, it was the turn of the French light tanks AMX-10, which the Ukrainian army has already described as a “sniper rifle on wheels.”

“This is what Freedom, Equality and Fraternity mean,” Reznikov said.

However, Ukraine hopes to receive new pledges from its allies during the next ministerial meeting of the Contact Group for the Defense of Ukraine, which will be held this Friday in Ramstein (Germany).

Ukraine’s shopping list will include more Leopard tanks, Bradley combat vehicles, long-range missiles (ATACMS) and much-needed 155mm rounds.

The Counteroffensive That Doesn’t Happen

As for the counter-offensive, which experts have been waiting for since the end of last year, the Deputy Minister of Defense UkraineHanna Malyar threw balls and asked for patience.

He assured that the counteroffensive was only one of the necessary measures “for the complete liberation of the territories”, which Kyiv Mix up a few plans and now they change depending on the state of the enemy.

“The counteroffensive includes the preparation of groups, personnel and reservists. It consists in planning certain tactical plans – A, B, C -, so there can be no single course of action,” he said.

At the same time, he assured that in fact the counteroffensive was already underway, without specifying.

“They’re emphasizing that something is going to happen when it’s actually already happening. There’s a counter-offensive going on right now,” he said.

Zelensky visits the border

Zelenskiy, meanwhile, traveled Wednesday to the Ukrainian province of Volyn, located in the country’s far northwest, which borders Belarus and Poland, after visiting the punishable Avdiivka stronghold outside Donetsk on Tuesday.

The visit came after Kyiv recalled its ambassador to Minsk for consultations on a meeting between Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and acting head of the annexed Donetsk People’s Republic Denis Pushilin.

Kyiv accused Belarus of committing an “unfriendly act” aimed at legitimizing the separatist leader and supporting the Russian aggressor, and ordered it not to take “more destructive steps” and stop “supporting Russia’s aggressive war in Ukraine.”