Ukraine's Air Force responds to Putin's claims about 'destruction' of five Patriot systems

Russian President Vladimir Putin stated at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum on June 16 that his troops had allegedly "destroyed" five Patriot air defense systems in Ukraine, but the Ukrainian Air Force assumed that the Russians themselves do not know what a Patriot system is and what it consists of.

Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat explained on Ukrainian television how many such air defense systems Ukraine actually has in service and what they consist of, Ukrinform reports.

"We are talking about divisions. They [the allies] handed over two divisions, which the Air Force commander showed. He even took a selfie. The division consists of a command center, a radar station, that is, a radar that provides information about air targets, and up to eight launchers," Ihnat said.

He suggested that perhaps Putin was referring to the launchers when he spoke of the five "destroyed" systems

"Maybe they themselves don't know what Patriot is and what it consists of. And that's why they 'destroy' them every day. I want to assure you that the Patriot works," Ihnat said.

He also added that Ukrainians could see the results of the system's work, for example, on June 16 when six Kinzhal ballistic missiles were destroyed. Ihnat noted that Ukraine expected more such systems to be delivered in the future.

The United States last month announced the allocation of an additional security assistance package for Ukraine, which included, among other things, additional missiles for the Patriot air defense system and other air defense equipment.