AFU will master Patriot systems in a few months - Air Force

Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat said this on the telethon on December 22.

“In peacetime conditions, this is a certain process, our partners take it very seriously, and everything must happen clearly according to the rules. But for today, under the conditions Ukraine found itself in, I think the process will be accelerated, perhaps up to several months,” he said.

Ihnat noted that previously Ukraine's Armed Forces quite successfully mastered the IRIS-T and NASAMS systems - in just a few weeks.

“They arrived, mastered these complexes and are successfully carrying out their tasks in Ukraine. We see that they have many successes - downed Russian missiles and Shahed drones,” the spokesman of the Air Force command noted. 

• On December 21, the US announced the decision to transfer the Patriot air defense system to Ukraine. The Patriot air defense system is known to be capable of shooting down cruise missiles, short-range ballistic missiles, and aircraft at much higher altitudes than air defense systems previously provided to Ukraine.

• After the US statement on the delivery of Patriot to Ukraine, the German opposition appealed to the Federal government with a request to provide such weapons systems to Kyiv.