Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder said at a briefing on Tuesday that the department had confirmed the fact that the Patriot air defense system of the Armed Forces of Ukraine had successfully shot down a Russian hypersonic Kinzhal missile.
The press secretary did not tell about the details of the destruction of the Kinzhal, advising journalists to turn to the Ukrainians for them.
“I can confirm that they shot down a Russian missile using the Patriot missile defense system,” Ryder said.
Moreover, to a clarifying question from the media whether it was a Kinzhal missile, the press secretary replied: “True.”
In addition, the Pentagon confirmed that Washington handed over the Patriot air defense system to Kiev. Previously, there were reports only that Ukraine received similar complexes only from Germany and the Netherlands. In this case, it is not known which Patriot shot down the Russian Kinzhal.
Recall that at the end of March, the United States announced that they could provide complexes to Ukraine faster than planned. On April 27, the commander of the air forces of the Ukrainian troops, Mykola Oleshchuk, announced that the second division of the Patriot Armed Forces of Ukraine had taken up combat duty.
I must say that Moscow’s reaction to the transfer of such weapons was always tough. On December 14, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the media that if Patriot air defense systems get into Ukraine, they will become a legitimate target for the Russian army, writes TASS .
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