WASHINGTON, May 17 The Patriot system in Ukraine allegedly received » minimal» damage after a Russian missile attack, CNN reported, citing an unnamed US official.
«The damage to the Patriot system after the Russian missile attack is minimal,» the TV channel points out.
It is noted that the United States sent an inspector to assess the condition of the installation.
“The system is functioning, officials said, and the radar component, one of the main elements, was not damaged. Officials do not believe that the system will need to be taken out for repair,” the report says.
The Russian Ministry of Defense on Tuesday announced that a concentrated strike was carried out at night with long-range precision-guided air and sea-based weapons at the points of deployment of units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as at the places of storage of ammunition, weapons and equipment delivered from Western countries. All targets were hit, among them the American Patriot air defense system, which was destroyed in Kyiv by the Kinzhal hypersonic missile. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported that Kyiv's statements about six Russian Kinzhal hypersonic missiles allegedly shot down by their air defense system on Tuesday are not true. He noted that the RF Armed Forces did not launch as many «Daggers» as the Ukrainian military «allegedly shoot down with their statements every time,» in addition, in Kiev they always make mistakes with the type of missiles — that's why they don't hit.
The Pentagon, in response to a request, said that they were not ready to provide information about the alleged damage to the Patriot air defense system. «At the moment I have nothing to report on this issue,» — said the representative of the department.