through the Associated PressSupply anti-missile batteries to Ukraine? Russia warns NATO countries (Photo of a Patriot anti-missile battery during a presentation at a German military base on March 17, 2022, by Axel Heimcken/dpa via AP)
UKRAINE – While Slovakia offered to provide Ukraine with air defense systems, Russia on Friday, March 18, warned of the consequences of such assistance in the conflict.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Moscow “will not allow” the transfer of S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems. He even stated that any supply of weapons to Ukraine would be considered by Russia as a “legitimate target”.
“Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov threatens that all aircraft carriers that can deliver weapons to Ukraine will be declared military targets.”
There were about 100 S-300 batteries in Ukraine before the invasion, and the Russian military claims they destroyed about 40 at the start of the Feb. 19FortyFive. “If I were planning the defense of Ukraine, I would like four S-300 batteries on the four cardinal points of Kyiv. I would sleep better at night.”
US wants to pass through Slovakia and Bulgaria
The American president, who wants to support Ukraine militarily without coming into direct conflict with Russia, seeks to provide the Ukrainian army with better protection from Russian artillery that is shelling cities.
So Joe Biden has promised to help Ukraine get “longer-range air defense systems” than man-portable Stingers, but finding the powerful anti-missile batteries that the Ukrainian army badly needs seems easier said than done.
Those S-300s could come from some of the former Soviet bloc countries that still have them, notably Slovakia and Bulgaria, where US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has been in recent days.
But these countries still depend on the S-300s for their own security and require replacements — in other words, Patriots — before handing them over to Ukraine. “We are ready to do this immediately when we have a suitable replacement,” Slovak Defense Minister Jaroslav Nad told reporters on Thursday.
For its part, the Netherlands also announced on Friday that it would deploy a Patriot battery at the Sliac military base in central Slovakia, while Germany confirmed it would send two more batteries to the country that could facilitate the deployment of one Slovak S-30. 300 battery to Ukraine.
But the German and Dutch “Patriots” will not arrive in Slovakia immediately – the Netherlands is counting on April 15 – and the time for the Ukrainian army is running out.
American Patriot to help Ukraine
The ideal way to help Ukraine would be mobile anti-aircraft batteries, such as the Patriot, whose effectiveness has been demonstrated in recent years in Iraq and the Gulf countries. Loaded on trucks, the Patriot consists of a radar capable of automatically detecting and intercepting an aircraft, drone or missile within a radius of more than 100 km, an observation post with three soldiers, and a battery of interceptor missiles.
But Ukrainian soldiers are not trained to handle these sophisticated American weapons. On the other hand, they know how to use the S-300 anti-aircraft system, the Russian competitor of the first generation of the American Patriot, whose range is more limited, but which will be enough to protect Kharkov or Kyiv, two cities located near the Russian border, from where most are launched. missiles that fire at them.
In addition, while several countries appear willing to supply Kiev with spare missiles for the S-300, Ukraine needs a lot of ready-made systems, including radars and surveillance posts. “The S-300 is better than nothing, but it’s not enough,” says Brent Eastwood.
Logistical difficulties in delivering the Patriot to its destination
Two other NATO countries, Bulgaria and Greece, have S-300s but will also have to offer replacements. However, even if the American army, whose Patriot supplies are relatively limited, decided to lend theirs to these countries, it would take them several weeks to reach their destination. Washington is trying to convince its allies in other regions to lend theirs, but again, it’s not easy.
US Chief of Staff General Mark Milley may have asked Japan for help on Thursday. He called his Japanese counterpart to discuss “the current situation in the Pacific and the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” according to a brief account of their conversation released by the Pentagon on Friday.
The Gulf states have numerous anti-aircraft batteries to defend against Iranian missiles, but they seem to be in no hurry to come to the aid of Ukraine. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which are among the world’s largest exporters of crude oil and have strong ties to both the West and Moscow, have so far avoided opposing Russia.
Look also at The HuffPost: How Zelensky uses history to seek international help