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| New Anti-Aircraft Missile System Arrives in Ukraine |
Kiev - Western-made anti-aircraft systems have arrived in Ukraine and will strengthen its military against Russia. Ukrainian Defense Minister Aleksey Reznikov announced this on Twitter. The official posted stock images of the NASAMS and Aspide surface-to-air missile systems. He thanked Norway, Spain and the United States for supplying them. "Those weapons will strengthen the Ukrainian Army and make our skies safer," he tweeted Monday (7/11/2022).
NASAMS, a short to medium range air defense system manufactured by US defense contractor Raytheon in collaboration with Norway's Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace, has been promised to Kiev by the Pentagon.
A week ago, the US said two of the eight launchers promised to Ukraine would arrive "in the near future." The mid-range Aspide system designed by Italian company Selenia is now defunct. The successor variant is produced by the international manufacturer Leonardo S.p.A. and the Italian branch of European defense giant MBDA.
Spain, which bought hundreds of Aspide missiles in the 1980s, announced it was including some of them in its latest military aid package for Ukraine last week. Ukraine pleaded with its Western backers to increase deliveries of anti-aircraft systems after Russia began carrying out regular air strikes against its energy infrastructure last month.
Moscow described the change of tactics as retaliation for several Ukrainian sabotage operations targeting key civilian sites in Russia, including the Crimea Bridge. The Russian attack significantly degraded Ukraine's energy system, forcing power grid operators to maintain a daily rotating schedule of blackouts to reduce the load.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported on Sunday that more than 4.5 million electricity consumers across the country had been affected by the blackout.