“Give us the damn Patriots”: Ukraine’s foreign minister urged partners to provide more air defense

After the recent Russian mass attacks on Ukraine, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba urged the West to provide the war-torn country with Patriot air defense systems, as they are currently the only weapon capable of protecting not only the lives of Ukrainians but also the economy.

Rubryka reports, referring to a Politico interview with Kuleba, that the need for such defense is clear to Ukrainians. 

Journalists note that just an hour before Kuleba's interview, Russia attacked the Ukrainian capital with ballistic missiles during broad daylight. Several loud explosions rang out just minutes after air raid sirens sounded across the city. At that time, Kuleba was in a botanical garden in the city, filming a video for a future trip.

Patriot air defense systems intercepted the missiles. Still, ten people, including a teenage girl, were injured by falling debris, including in the vicinity of where Kuleba was filming.

"Give us the damn Patriots," Ukraine's chief diplomat said. "If we had enough air defense systems, namely Patriots, we would be able to protect not only the lives of our people but also our economy from destruction." 

Kuleba told Politico that these systems would also help improve the situation on the front line, where Russian aviation extensively uses bombs, aiding the occupation forces in gaining an advantage. These bombs are weapons "you cannot escape from" if you're the intended target. 

"You cannot jam it. It just falls on your head and destroys everything. This is how we're losing positions, and the only way to prevent this is to shoot down the planes carrying the bombs," Kuleba added. "We need air-defense systems on the front lines."

He also said that Ukraine was unconditionally grateful for all the support from the Western partners, but he worries their actions don't always correspond to their words. They are "going back to the usual way of doing politics" as the war continues.

Minister Kuleba described "a vicious circle — weapons are withheld or delayed or supplied in insufficient numbers, and then the allies say Ukraine is retreating, it is impossible for Ukraine to win," Politico reports.

"But, guys, all this picture of reality that you paint for yourselves is the outcome of one simple fact — that Ukrainian soldiers do not have sufficient amounts of weapons because you did not provide them," Kuleba said.

The day before, after the Russian missile attack on Kyiv, Kuleba called for more Patriot air defense systems and missiles to be provided to Ukraine on his social media.

He also discussed with the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, how the EU can help Ukraine quickly obtain more Patriots and other air defense systems.

According to the Ukrainian foreign minister, he informed the EU's top diplomat about the Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian cities, thanked him for the expressed concerns and support, and emphasized the importance of supplying additional air defense assets.

"I also emphasized that Ukraine is currently the only country in the world that is being attacked by ballistic missiles almost daily. Therefore, Patriots must be stationed here and now to save human lives rather than remaining in places where the missile threat is zero," said Kuleba.