Ukraine denies claim that Russia destroyed Patriot air defense system
KYIV, Ukraine - Ukrainian officials on Wednesday rejected Russia’s claims that it had destroyed one of Kyiv’s treasured, Western-donated Patriot air defense systems while a U.S. official said that one of the systems was damaged but still operational.
“Everything is fine with the Patriot,” Ukrainian air force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat said in a text message on Wednesday, refusing to elaborate further. Moscow claimed that it had destroyed one of the billion-dollar Patriot systems with a hypersonic missile.
A U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue, said that a Patriot system had suffered an indirect hit by Russian fire in the vicinity of Kyiv early Tuesday morning, but that it was still operational.
On Tuesday, Ukrainian officials insisted that their air defenses had intercepted 18 out 18 missiles, including six hypersonic “Kinzhal” or “Dagger” missiles, fired in Moscow’s latest brutal air attack, an early morning assault that also involved cruise missiles and Iranian-made self-destructing drones.
The Ukrainians said that damage near the capital city was limited, and the result of falling debris from the downed missiles.
Russia’s Defense Ministry, contradicting the Ukrainian account, said a Patriot system had been hit and destroyed. Ukraine has two such systems, one donated by the United States and the second by Germany and the Netherlands.
The Patriot is a complex weapon, made up of numerous components, several mounted on trucks. Ihnat, in a television appearance, rejected Moscow’s claim, saying a single missile could not destroy the Patriot given is many parts.
“It is impossible to destroy the system with some ‘Kinzhal,’” Ihnat said.
The U.S. defense official said Wednesday that the extent of the damage to the system was still being assessed, but that the Patriot’s radar was not damaged.
When deployed, the Patriot’s modules are often spread out, reducing the risk of losing such an expensive weapon. The radar is a vital component that helps make the Patriot the U.S. military’s most advanced air defense system.
Patriot, made by Raytheon Technologies, stands for Phased Array Tracking Radar to Intercept on Target. The Center for Strategic and International Studies, a U.S.-based think tank, last year estimated that a newly-produced battery costs about $1.1 billion, more than half of which - $690 million - is the cost of the missiles.
The locations of Ukraine’s two Patriot systems are a closely kept secret - though Moscow’s repeated airstrikes in recent weeks suggest that one was located in the Kyiv region.
The Security Service of Ukraine, or SBU, announced Wednesday that it was prosecuting six Kyiv residents who shared photos and videos of air defense operations during Tuesday morning’s attack.
Those images were picked up by Russian media and Telegram accounts “within minutes,” the SBU said, potentially giving Moscow valuable targeting information.
The six could face eight years in prison, the SBU said in a statement. The service’s cyber specialists had also shut down a number of live cameras across the city that showed air defenses, according to the statement.
Ukraine is now operating a complex web of differing air defense systems, including not only the Russian-made systems it had at the start of the invasion but also multiple new systems manufactured in Europe and the United States.
By reputation, however, the Patriot stands apart. And the legend only grew after Ukraine said it used the Patriot to shoot down a Kinzhal missile over Kyiv, reportedly taking out a weapon that previously evaded all air defenses.
Britain’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday that it appeared Russia’s airstrikes were intended to neutralize Ukraine’s air defense capabilities. In the process, however, the Kremlin likely lost several more of the expensive missiles.
Ukrainian officials have called Russia’s claims of destroying the Patriot another form of propaganda, intended to distract from repeated failures on the battlefield.
Hanna Maliar, a deputy Ukrainian defense minister, wrote on Telegram Wednesday that claims about the Patriot, like Russia’s claims of territorial gains in the contested eastern city of Bakhmut, were designed “to hide the fact that Russia is actually afraid of a Ukrainian counteroffensive.”
Speaking on television, Ihnat said that Russia had told similar accounts about striking Ukrainian aircraft. “If we had as many planes as they [claim to have] destroyed, we probably would have won a long time ago,” Ihnat said.