He also said, that the Patriot system remains in working order. Damage caused by an unidentified projectile that fell near it is still being assessed.
At the same time, Yuriy Ihnat, Ukrainian Air Force spokesman, said in a comment to AFP that the air defence system is "in service". "It’s fine," he added.
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Against this background, on Wednesday evening, the Russian Defence Ministry decided to report that they "completely destroyed" five launchers of the American Patriot air defence system.
Previously, the media reported about damage to the Patriot air defence system during the Russian attack on Tuesday night. Ukraine and the United States began discussing how best to fix the system.
According to CNN sources, two components of a Patriot battery were damaged in a Russian attack Tuesday, but the system “was never offline," according to a US official familiar with the matter.
The Russian barrage —which consisted of hypersonic Kinzhal missiles, Kalibr cruise missiles and other munitions — damaged the Patriot battery’s generator and part of the system’s electronics.
The damage was minimal, according to three other US officials, with one describing it as “minor.” The system remained functional throughout the attack and remains online, an official said.
The US sent inspectors to examine the system on Tuesday, after being told by the Ukrainians that the system appeared to have been damaged, one of the officials said.
US officials are still assessing how exactly the Patriot components were damaged since it does not appear that any of the components sustained a direct hit from a Russian Kinzhal missile or other munition.
As Defense Express informed, the russian Federation has already attacked the US air defence system with Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, in particular on 4 May, but unsuccessfully. Instead, the Ukrainian military, as confirmed by the Pentagon, intercepted the missile using the Patriot system.
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