Russian Iskander Missile Strike Destroys Two Ukrainian PATRIOT Air Defense System launchers

Defense News ,Russia Ukraine War :-  The Russian military successfully launched an attack using Iskander tactical ballistic missiles, destroying two PATRIOT air defense system launchers operated by Ukraine. The attack also targeted and destroyed a MAN KAT1 vehicle. This suggests that the destroyed PATRIOT launchers were provided to Ukraine by Germany, which has supplied two fire units of the PATRIOT system and an undisclosed number of missiles.

Analysts say that the Ukrainian Patriot operators, who underwent extensive training, made critical mistakes, especially in positioning key vehicles too close to each other. This resulted in the loss of the operators during the Russian strike.

The destruction of the two PATRIOT launchers has significantly weakened Ukraine's air defense capability against challenging targets. Experts believe it could take several months, or even more than a year, to replace these systems. Western countries supporting Ukraine do not currently have PATRIOT systems available for immediate transfer, even if Ukraine had the funds to purchase or acquire them from foreign partners.