Air defense
NATO states promise further help to Ukraine
Following Germany’s commitment to supply Ukraine with another Patriot system, other NATO states have now also announced support for air defense. photo
© Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa
Ukraine is asking for additional defense systems in view of heavy Russian air strikes. After a crisis meeting at NATO, there are now new commitments.
The Norwegian initially did not say who made the commitments after the meeting of the so-called NATO-Ukraine Council. Specific announcements should therefore be made by individual member states in the next few days. According to Stoltenberg, countries that do not have available air defense systems themselves agreed to provide financial support for the purchase of systems for Ukraine.
The goal: hold the front line
In recent days, Zelenskyj had urgently asked for additional military support for the defensive campaign against Russia. According to Zelensky, the current issue for his country is whether it can hold the front line and protect the remaining energy infrastructure. In recent weeks, Russia has increased military pressure on Ukraine and, among other things, destroyed almost all thermal power plants with air strikes.
According to Zelensky’s information from the beginning of April, 25 Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems, each with six to eight launchers or comparable equipment, would be needed to fully protect Ukrainian airspace. To secure the most important locations, seven additional systems would initially be enough.
The federal government had already announced at the weekend that it would deliver another Patriot system to Ukraine. The military sees further potential in Spain, for example. In addition to Patriots, Ukraine says systems such as Iris-T, Samp/T and Nasams could also help.
NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg recently said that in the current situation, in his view, it was more important to help Ukraine than to meet alliance goals for stockpiling weapons and ammunition.