Copyright ynetnews
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed Saturday that Israel has supplied his country with a Patriot air defense system, saying it has already been deployed and is operational. “The system has been installed,” Zelensky said, adding that Ukraine will receive two more batteries from Israel in the coming fall. His statement comes three months after Israel’s ambassador to Kyiv, Michael Brodsky, made a surprising announcement that Jerusalem had transferred Patriot systems to Ukraine. At the time, the remarks were the first public acknowledgment that Israel had provided direct military aid to Kyiv, though the Foreign Ministry later denied the claim. Until Zelensky’s statement on Saturday, there had been no further confirmation. In a June interview with blogger Marichka Dubenko, Brodsky said the systems were originally supplied to Israel by the United States in the early 1990s and had served in the Israel Defense Forces. “We agreed to transfer them to Ukraine,” he said, adding, “When people say Israel has not provided military assistance—that is simply not true.” The Patriot system (MIM-104), developed by U.S. defense contractor Raytheon in the late 1970s, is designed to intercept aircraft and missiles. It consists of missile batteries, radar arrays, and command-and-control units. More than a year ago, the Financial Times reported that the U.S., Israel, and Ukraine were discussing the transfer of eight aging Patriot M901 PAC-2 batteries, roughly 30 years old, which could significantly improve Kyiv’s defenses against Russian attacks. In May, The New York Times also reported that some of the systems had already reached Ukraine. In July, U.S. President Donald Trump formally announced that Washington would provide Ukraine with “the most advanced” weapons for its war against Russia. He said the Patriot batteries and missiles would be funded by other NATO countries rather than American taxpayers. Trump expressed frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying he believed the two had reached agreements on Ukraine several times before talks collapsed. “I am disappointed in President Putin,” Trump said. “I thought we had a deal two months ago, but it doesn’t seem to be happening.”
