Germany to hand over third Patriot system to Ukraine

This is reported by ntv, citing the German Ministry of Defense. 

"Due to the increase in the number of Russian air strikes on Ukraine, the German government has decided to further strengthen Ukrainian air defense," the statement said. 

It is noted that the transfer became possible because the air defense system was returned from scheduled maintenance. 

"Germany will immediately hand over another Patriot air defense system to Ukraine to protect against Russian air attacks. It will be transferred in addition to the air defense systems already delivered and planned for delivery," said German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius.

Zelenskyy thanks German Chancellor Scholz for another Patriot system

"An important and productive conversation with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. I am grateful to the Chancellor for the decision to supply another additional Patriot system to Ukraine and missiles to the existing air defense systems. Thank you, Olaf, for your leadership! This is a real manifestation of support for Ukraine at a critical time for us," the President of Ukraine wrote on Telegram. 

He called on leaders of other countries to follow Germany's example. 

Zelenskyy also said that he had discussed with Scholz preparations for the upcoming URC2024 conference on reconstruction to be held in Berlin and spoke about preparations for the June Peace Summit in Switzerland. 

• On April 4, in Brussels, Dmytro Kuleba said that Germany had initiated a search for affordable Patriot air defense systems for Kyiv. His German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock, called for an urgent search for air defense systems for Ukraine in third countries, as "Germany's Patriot stocks are depleted".
• On April 11, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister said that the state had found more than 100 available Patriots in the world and was seeking to obtain at least 7 such systems as soon as possible to protect the cities most affected by Russian attacks.
• Later, Kuleba said that Ukraine was negotiating to receive two Patriot batteries and one Samp-T.