American Patriot air defense systems are not capable of repelling all Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian territory, writes The Washington Post.
According to the publication, only the Patriot systems are capable of “reliably intercepting“ Russian ballistic missiles that hit targets in Ukraine. However, the authors point out that even these systems have failed to intercept some recent attacks, including those against Kiev.
The publication attributes the current situation in part to the modernization of Russia's missile systems, to counter US air defense systems.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that his country was under a massive combined attack by the Russian armed forces, calling on the US and Europe to “act“ in response to this development.
According to him, the Russian army used “more than 50 missiles and about 500 strike drones“. The strikes were aimed at Ukrainian infrastructure.
The Ukrainian leader stressed that the country demands “faster implementation of all defense agreements, especially in terms of air defense“.