Ukraine is grateful to the West for the deployment of advanced anti-air missile systems but they are not enough and “much more” is needed.
New air-defence weapons systems given to Ukraine by Western nations are now deployed and “on combat duty” says Air Forces spokesman Yurii Ihnat, who used the statement to reflect on the arrival of new equipment to also call for more. The comments came as fresh Russian airstrikes injured at least 34.
Speaking on Ukrainian television, Colonel Ihnat said: “Believe me, all the Western weapons that are available now, to one degree or another, are working for our victory… But they are not enough. We understand that saying that IRIS-T and Patriot are in Ukraine is quite good news for us, but we still need much more of them.”
The Ukrainian government’s own news dissemination service reports the Colonel went on to point out that Ukraine is the largest country in Europe and that the air defence systems they have now do not yet cover enough sky to protect the nation totally.
The air defence systems of Ukraine would on the brink of being totally depleted in the next fortnight due to simply running out of the hard-to-replace Russian-made ex-Soviet missiles they use, so claims documents and slides from the allegedly leaked Pentagon Papers earlier this year. This information leaking into the public sphere and the potential consequences of Russia being able to strike the Ukrainian interior without fear of interdiction intensified calls for increased Western materiel aid.
Speaking last month, Colonel Ihnat was again calling for more air defence systems, saying his country would end up like Syria if the demands were not heeded. As reported, he said in April: “The situation is very dangerous indeed… If we lose the battle for our skies the consequences will be critical. The Russians will smash every city just like they did in Syria. Our nuclear power stations will be vulnerable too. And we will struggle to protect our frontline troops.”
The key limiting factor with supply of air defence systems is that, unlike other kinds of military material which have been built in huge numbers and stockpiled in the past the latest generation of missiles like Patriot are extremely expensive, relatively scarce, and take a long time to build from scratch. For many countries, donating Patriot batteries to Ukraine means creating real holes in their own air defence.
Beyond missile systems, one of the recurring key demands of Colonel Ihnat, made over many months, is for Ukraine to be given F-16 fighters. In early April, he said “This kind of aircraft would solve many of our issues in protecting the airspace, and it is available in sufficient numbers to make a difference”, weeks later he followed up, saying: “The only way is with systems like the Patriot [or] modern fighter jets like the F-16. That is why we are begging our allies to give us them now.”
Colonel Ihnat again made a plea for F-16s today. While no country have officially said they will supply Ukraine with the U.S.-made jets, at least two Ukrainian pilots are reported to have been in America for training on the aircraft in March.