In order to fully protect the skies over Ukraine from Russian missile strikes and drones, we need 25 Patriot air defence systems. This was stated by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a press conference.
He noted that in order to fully provide Ukraine with air defence, it is necessary to conclude an agreement with the United States, as it is the country with the largest production of such systems.
"If we talk about air defence, only one country has such a number of systems - the United States," Zelenskyy said.
He added that not only Patriot air defence systems are needed to protect the sky.
"Because air defence works in a complex. But of course, Patriot is the most important in this system because it is the only one that works with ballistics... I cannot say how many of them we already have. But I can tell you that 25 Patriot systems are needed to completely close the sky over Ukraine," Zelenskyy said.
He also reminded that the NATO Summit had decided to provide Ukraine with 5 such systems.
"When the NATO summit decides to allocate 5 Patriots, this is an important sign," Zelenskyy added.
The NATO anniversary summit in Washington did not bring Ukraine the long-awaited invitation to join the Alliance. However, it was decided to provide Ukraine with additional air defence systems. Read more about the outcome of the event in LB.ua's article "NATO Washington Summit and Ukraine: A Vague Hope".