According to Medvedev, the Russian Security Council’s deputy chairman, Patriot systems and NATO personnel who enter Ukraine are “legitimate targets.”
Vice President of the Council stated, “If NATO provides the Patriot systems and sends their crews to Ukraine, as Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg referred to, they will immediately become valid targets for our armed forces.” On November 29, Dmitry Medvedev, the head of Russian security, posted on Telegram.
I hope the NATO leadership is aware of this, he continued.
The remarks followed Secretary General Stoltenberg’s declaration that NATO was debating whether to give Ukraine access to the long-range Patriot air defense system.
Speaking about Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak’s suggestion that Germany should send Patriot air defense missile systems to Ukraine, German government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann stated on November 25 that the nation was “in discussions with its allies on how to handle the Polish proposal.”
When asked on November 29 if the US intended to transfer Patriot batteries to Ukraine, a senior defense official responded, “All possibilities are being studied, Patriot being one of them.
However, Pentagon spokesperson Pat Ryder later that day reiterated that Kiev will not be receiving Patriot missiles from the United States. Sending Patriot missiles or other cutting-edge weapons to Ukraine presents a number of difficulties because of their intricate maintenance and training requirements. He claimed that it was impossible to immediately start employing them on the battlefield.
The US created the MIM-104 Patriot air defense missile, which has been in use since 1981. The PAC-2 derivative of the MIM-104C, which can fly up to 32 km in altitude and kill targets 96 km away, is used by numerous nations.
The Patriot PAC-3 version of the MIM-104F, also known as the Patriot 104F, has undergone extensive upgrades and is now capable of intercepting a variety of air threats, including fighters, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles.
