Ukrainian personnel arrived at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, on Sunday night for training at the US Army Air Defense Gunnery School.
Ukrainian soldiers came to the United States to learn how to use the Patriot air defense in order to protect themselves from Russian missile attacks, such as the one that killed at least 40 people in the city of Dnipro.
The Ukrainian personnel arrived at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, on Sunday night for training at the US Army Air Defense Gunnery School, the facility’s colonel said. Curtis Kingin a video posted on the Twitter network.
Washington promised a Patriot air defense battery to Ukraine late last year to help counter Moscow’s relentless air attacks. That supply was a significant victory for kyiv, which had repeatedly lobbied the United States for the system as the war started by Moscow in late February of last year progressed.
King did not report how many Ukrainian troops arrived in Oklahoma, but the Pentagon had reported earlier this month that between 90 and 100 soldiers They would travel to the United States to learn how to operate and maintain the Patriot system in a course that would last several months.
Air defense has played a key role in protecting Ukraine and preventing Moscow forces from taking over with control of the skies.
But facing increasing setbacks on the ground, Russia began attacking critical infrastructure in Ukraine, disrupting the electricity, water and heating supply to millions of people.
Exclusively civil structures
A Russian missile attack on Sunday struck an apartment building in Dnipro, eastern Ukraine, killing at least 40 people. Russia denied being responsible of the bombing and blamed the Ukrainians.
Manufactured by the Raytheon group, the MIM-104 Patriot is a surface-to-air missile system initially developed for intercept high-flying aircraft.
It was modified in the 1980s in the face of the threat of tactical ballistic missiles, and was first used in combat against Russian-made Iraqi Scuds in the first Gulf War.
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