War

A thousand two hundred twenty -fifth day. The United States stopped the supply of missiles to Ukraine Patriot. They are critical for protection against Russian ballistic missiles

Medusa from February 24, 2022 lives on the Russian-Ukrainian war on the air. In our daily materials, we publish your letters, because we are sure: we must continue to talk about the war. What feelings do you experience because of the ongoing war? How does it affect you personally right now? How has your attitude to what is happening, towards Russia, Ukraine, to the world changed over these three years of the war? Look for a feedback form at the end of this article. A review of the previous day can be read here .

Ukraine

The USA has suspended the supply of missiles for Patriot complexes

The United States paused the sending of missiles and ammunition to Ukraine due to concern about the volume of its own reserves. The fact of stopping supplies was officially confirmed by the press secretary of the White House Anna Kelly, noting that this decision was made, "to put America's interests in the first place."

It is not officially specified what specific deliveries are detained, but NBC News, citing sources, writes that among them are dozens of Patriot missiles, as well as more than one hundred Hellfire missiles, dozens of STINGER missiles, GMLRS reactive shells, grenade launchers and thousands of fragmentation-free ammunition.

Politico clarifies that we are talking about the supply of exactly the weapons that was guaranteed by the Joe Biden administration.

According to NBC News, the decision to suspend supplies was made by the head of the Pentagon Pit Hegset. A few weeks earlier, he published a memorandum demanding to check the number of ammunition in warehouses in the United States. The reserves were significantly reduced due to the help of Ukraine and Israel, as well as in connection with the fighting against the Hussites in Yemen.

When deliveries are renewed, it is unclear. NBC News writes that they can be detained at least until the audit is completed, and if it turns out that they are really not enough, the stop can last even longer. Reuters notes that the Pentagon has not announced a change in his policy on this issue as a whole.

Against the backdrop of news about the termination of supplies to the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine, the temporary attorney of the United States John Ginkel was called . With a diplomat, the meeting was held by Deputy Minister Maryana Bets. The official report of the Foreign Ministry said that she “expressed the gratitude of the United States for the support provided from the beginning of the invasion”, but emphasized that any delay in deliveries “would only encourage the aggressor to continue the war and terror”.

The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, in turn, reported that it requested a telephone conversation with colleagues from the United States to clarify the details of weapons. They emphasized that they have not yet received official reports on the revision of the supply schedules of previously agreed assistance.

The supply of missiles for Patriot is critical for Ukraine, as this is one of the few air defense systems that can intercept the ballistic missiles actively used by Russia. In Kiev, it has been repeatedly stated that the systems and ammunition themselves are constantly not enough, in the spring the presidential adviser Mikhail Podolyak called the possible loss of access to Patriot “a special problem” for the country.

Patriot systems are almost impossible to replace with European analogues-the German IRIS-T and Norwegian NASAMS knock down only cruise missiles. The French-Italian SAMP/T can intercept ballistic missiles, but they have much less radius of action than Patriot. Moreover, production capacities in Europe are extremely limited, they are not enough to completely cover the needs of Ukraine.

In April, the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky stated that Ukraine is ready to purchase ten Patriot installations for $ 15 billion. At the end of June, Zelensky discussed the issue of buying Patriot from the United States personally with President Donald Trump, but they did not come to specific agreements. Trump said that he would “study” the question, warning that there are very few installations, and, first of all, they need them by the United States.

The Ukrainian authorities are simultaneously trying to get additional missiles for Patriot from the reserves of European allies - this is also done through the mediation of the United States, since any re -export can only be carried out with their consent. In mid -June, Germany announced the last such large supply - it included 100 missiles, of which 32 were already transferred at the time of the official announcement. The European allies of Ukraine against the backdrop of a growing concern about the potential attack of Russia on the EU countries are also afraid of the lack of Patriot systems for their own needs.

War through the eyes of readers "Medusa"

Irina (Russia). As a child, I read a lot of books about the war, and my main fear of falling asleep was that now I would open my eyes and see out the window, as the columns of the Nazis (real, not propaganda) are walking along the street). Now my child fear has become someone else's reality ...

I don't understand how this happened. In my head, the process of making a decision on an attack by someone should look like this: “Let's just throw a bomb!” “No, it’s impossible, suddenly some child will suffer.” “Ah, well, then let's agree.” War is a game of psychopaths. It will not end until the psychopath is interested in playing. I try very hard not to despise the Russians with whom the psychopath was able to manipulate. Because otherwise I do not know how to live at all. I say to everyone related to Ukraine: “I'm sorry, I’m guilty, but I don’t know how to fix it.”

If they told me: “Let us kill you, but the war will end,” I would agree immediately.

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