The United States Department of Defense helped repair the Patriot missile defense system supplied by the United States to Ukraine. A Pentagon spokesman publicly confirmed for the first time on Thursday that expensive military equipment was damaged in a Russian airstrike earlier in the week.
Sabrina Singh, the Pentagon’s deputy spokeswoman, told reporters the damaged complex had been “repaired and is fully operational.”
The US military provided “some” virtual assistance, she said, while damage from the Russian attack was described as “minor”.
Kremlin officials have claimed since Tuesday that Moscow succeeded in destroying part of a billion-dollar Patriot battery. Ukrainian authorities have denied the allegations, calling the damage minimal.
Patriot, manufactured by Raytheon, is one of the most advanced surface-to-air missile defense systems in the United States and is designed to track and intercept ballistic and cruise missiles and aircraft.
This year, the Pentagon trained Ukrainian specialists on the system, which could require up to 90 troops to operate.
The Patriot appears to have strengthened Ukraine’s air defenses considerably, as Kyiv reported that the UAF had shot down a much larger number of Russian missiles in recent days.
Ukraine’s military said it intercepted 29 of the 30 missiles Wednesday night and destroyed four Russian drones, while US officials said they shot down all 18 missiles fired Tuesday night.
Russia reportedly carried out an attack on the Patriot complex with a Kinzhal hypersonic missile.
Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Patrick Ryder confirmed last week that Ukraine had used the Patriot system for the first time to intercept Russian Kinzhal.
“I can confirm that they shot down a Russian missile using the Patriot missile defense system,” Ryder said last Tuesday. “As you know, this system is part of a larger array of air defense capabilities that the United States and the international community have provided to Ukraine.”
Delivering the Patriot to Ukraine cost the United States about $1.1 billion, of which $400 million was spent on the system and $690 million on the missiles.
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