By John Ikani
Ukraine has received a delivery of the German IRIS-T air defense system, days after heavy Russian missile strikes hit major Ukrainian cities including Kyiv.
The ground-based anti-aircraft system is primarily intended to protect civilian populations by repelling air attacks by the Russian Military.
Confirming the delivery, German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said a further three air defense systems would be delivered to Ukraine next year.
Lambrecht spoke to reporters in Brussles ahead of a NATO defense minister summit.
“Ukraine urgently needs air defense systems and artillery and this is exactly what Germany delivers,” she said.
By handing over the air defense system Germany is upholding a promise that Chancellor Scholz had already made in the Bundestag at the beginning of June.
Russia pounded cities across Ukraine during rush hour on Monday morning, killing civilians and knocking out power and heat, in apparent revenge strikes after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a blast on Russia’s bridge to Crimea to be a terrorist attack, showing how urgently such protection is needed in Ukraine.
