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Russia has said that its forces destroyed a U.S.-made Patriot missile defense system in Kyiv Monday night during an immense missile attack. The reportedly destroyed Patriot system was worth $1.1 billion.
During a December visit to the White House, Biden told Zelensky that the U.S. would be providing an additional $1.85 billion in assistance to Ukraine, which included authorization for $1 billion worth of Presidential Drawdown for security assistance. That $1 billion went toward a Patriot missile battery, according to a report from The Gateway Pundit.
The Patriot missile defense system was delivered to Ukraine last month by the U.S. and NATO. It is designed to intercept incoming missiles.
According to a Telegram post by the Russian Defense Ministry, “a high-precision strike by the Kinzhal hypersonic missile system in the city of Kyiv hit a U.S.-made Patriot anti-aircraft missile system.”
Meanwhile, U.S. officials rebuffed Russia’s assertions saying that the system was likely damaged, not destroyed.
The U.S. government is working to determine if the system was damaged or actually destroyed. If it was only damaged, then it could possibly be repaired by Ukrainian forces but if it was in fact destroyed, or too heavily damaged, then it would need to be pulled back completely.
While the Ukrainian government has said that all 6 hypersonic missiles fired from Russia were successfully intercepted, it would not comment on the status of the Patriot system.
“We cannot comment on this. We’ll stay out of commenting on Russian sources,” Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat said.
The Patriot system that was allegedly destroyed is one of two that has been donated by NATO allies. One was donated by the U.S. and the other jointly by Germany and the Netherlands. It is currently unclear which battery was potentially damaged, but regardless of which country provided it, Kyiv will have a much more difficult time defending its territory with only one Patriot missile defense system going forward.
