Biden To Deliver Patriot Missile Batteries To Ukraine

US President Joe Biden’s administration is finalizing plans to deliver advanced Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine, CNN and The New York Times reported, citing three US officials. A directive could be approved as early as this week, officials said.

Photo Insert: A NATO Patriot deployment

Ukraine has intensified pleas for air defenses as Russia has conducted relentless attacks on power plants.

The US and other allies have allies pledged more than $1 billion to support Ukraine throughout winter. French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna announced that some 70 countries and international organizations will be involved in allocating funds.

Ukraine has launched the production of 152-millimeter and 122-millimeter artillery shells as the stocks of Soviet ammunition are running out, Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, said on Dec. 13, Ukraine Daily reported.

Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s Parliament, has approved an agreement to launch Bayraktar production in Ukraine. The parliament ratified the agreement on Turkey-Ukraine cooperation in the field of high technologies, aviation, and space industries, the Member of Parliament Oleksii Honcharenko said.

The document will allow the construction of a factory in Ukraine to produce Turkish Bayraktar drones.

Ukraine’s General Staff claimed on Dec. 14 that Russia has lost 95,260 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24. Ukraine also destroyed 2,966 tanks, 5,930 armored fighting vehicles, 1,931 artillery systems, 404 multiple launch rocket systems, 211 air defense systems, 264 helicopters, 281 airplanes, 1,617 drones and 16 boats.

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