Russia’s air defenses unable to deal with Western-made missiles: Ukraine’s Air Force

Russia’s air defense can’t cope with Ukrainian strikes using Western-made cruise missiles, spokesman of Ukraine’s Air Force said on Sunday.

“We’ve received weapons we had been waiting for so much. These are cruise missiles. The enemy can’t shoot down these missiles despite having great anti-aircraft defense there, which have ‘no analogues’,” Yuriy Ihnat said as cited by state news agency Ukrinform.

He added: “Presumably, they do down some of them but, as we can see, our missiles penetrate their defenses, and Crimea, which is heavily armed with air defense systems, cannot cope with Western-made cruise missiles.”

According to him, that is why Ukraine expects more such missiles from the West – specifically German, French, and British ones.

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Ihnat said: “And the American ATACMS are already ballistic missiles – they will help us significantly change the situation at the front. And with the arrival of Western-made warplanes, it will be a completely different story.”

Ukraine has long argued for strong air defenses to protect against Russian aerial assaults and be capable to return fire. In August, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed that Ukraine’s defenses were not yet capable of protecting its whole territory against Russian attacks.

Also in August, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he requested the US provide Ukraine with the ATACMS long-range missiles in a phone call with US Secretary of State.

Furthermore, Ihnat said: “There is news that Germany will also hand over sea surface drones, and that other weapons will arrive, too. And best of all are our Neptune missiles, which perform quite effectively. And Harpoon-carrying F-16s appear, Russian ships will have nothing to do in the Black Sea at all.”

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