The United States approves Ukraine’s request to upgrade the Patriot missile system
The United States on Tuesday agreed to sell $105 million worth of weapons to Ukraine to upgrade Patriot missile systems, as Russia continues to bomb its neighbor.
The US State Department said it had informed Congress of the deal for spare parts, training and upgrades of Patriot missiles that Ukraine relies on to shoot down Russian missiles.
The deal includes upgrading the M901 rocket launchers to the M903 launchers, which can fire more rockets simultaneously.
A statement from the US State Department said that the proposed deal would improve Ukraine’s ability to confront current and future threats.
Ukraine will pay for upgrades to the Patriot missile systems, as US president Donald Trump has criticized US military aid to Ukraine, which has amounted to nearly $67 billion since Russia’s war begun in February 2022.
Despite Trump’s repeated calls to end the war, Russia has rejected a ceasefire and continues its attacks on Ukraine.
In another context, Zelensky is heading to Türkiye on Wednesday for a trip aimed at reviving US involvement in diplomatic efforts.
Zelensky said last month that Ukraine needed 25 more Patriot systems to counter Russia’s escalating attacks.
On the ground, a Russian drones attack wounded at least 36 people in the city of Kharkov, the governor of the eponymous region in eastern Ukraine announced on Wednesday morning, after it was targeted for the third night in a row.
As winter approaches, Moscow has stepped up its strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Kyiv regularly targets depots, oil refineries and other energy facilities in Russia.
On Wednesday morning, all parts of Ukraine were on alert for airstrikes, with authorities in several Western cities issuing warnings to residents.
For its part, the Ukrainian Ministry of Energy noted that the Russian attacks led to emergency power outages in a number of areas.
Since October, the Russian army launched the largest bombing campaign on Ukrainian energy facilities since the start of the war in 2022.
Facing another harsh winter and no signs of peace talks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is on a European tour in a bid to rally support for his military and boost energy infrastructure.
