US will send Ukraine another missile system &bdquo ;The Patriot”, two US officials said on Tuesday after desperate calls from Kiev for more air defense assets, the Associated Press reported, as quoted by BTA.
Officials said US President Joe Biden approved the decision. This will be the second "Patriot" system that the US provides to Ukraine.
Other allies, including Germany, have also provided Ukraine with air defense systems, as well as ammunition for them, AP reminds.
The two US officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision had not been made public. The decision was first reported by the “New York Times”, the agency notes.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last month requested additional “Patriot“ with the argument that they will help his forces against the nearly three thousand bombs that, according to him, Russia fires on Ukrainian territory every month.
Zelensky said that Ukraine urgently needs seven more "Patriot" systems.
At least 800 men from Sri Lanka were lured to fight on the side of Russia in the war in Ukraine, DPA reported, quoted by BTA.
According to information from the Sri Lankan police, most of those affected were promised a monthly salary of 1 million to 1.5 million rupees ($3,292 - 4,938) or even more for relatively safe unskilled work. In reality, however, the men were sent to the front to fight and did not receive the promised money, which was many times more than the usual income in Sri Lanka.
According to the police in Sri Lanka, most of the decoys are ex-soldiers. So far, 20 people have been detained who are said to have participated in the organization of the scheme.
According to the police, the men do not know exactly where they are or their commanders do not let them leave. For this reason, Sri Lanka's Deputy Foreign Minister Tharaka Balasuriya will meet Russia's Deputy Defense Minister Andrei Belousov in Moscow next week, the Sri Lankan Embassy in the Russian capital announced yesterday. The representative of Sri Lanka is hoping for Russian help to repatriate the men.