A Patriot missile launcher of the German Armed Forces stands at an airport.
Michael Fischer/picture alliance via Getty Images
Ukraine's defense ministry said on Thursday that it's purchasing around 100 Patriot missiles with $1 billion from a European Union loan."A step was taken to purchase about a hundred Patriot missiles for $1 billion at the expense of an EU loan. This year, Ukraine also began receiving missiles from European partners' warehouses for the first time," the ministry wrote in a statement.The statement comes as Kyiv said it issued urgent letters to 40 of its allies requesting Patriot missile stocks, which Ukraine uses primarily to destroy incoming Russian ballistic and cruise missiles.Ukraine said it's been eliminating about 90% of these missile threats, but has warned for months that it's been repeatedly running short of Patriot interceptors to guard its skies."Ukraine critically needs additional missiles for the Patriot systems. They are in the warehouses of partners," it said.But these million-dollar interceptors are precious to militaries around the world. Kyiv has therefore proposed an exchange, saying it would replenish donors' Patriot missile stocks from its own future deliveries.Ukraine is set to acquire several hundred PAC-2 Patriot interceptors in the coming years, from a $4.5 billion financing agreement with Germany in April for air defense munitions and launchers.
