During his working visit to Germany, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, accompanied by German Federal Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius, visited the 21 Surface-to-Air Missile Group in Sanitz. At its base, Ukrainian defenders are training to operate the Patriot air defense systems.
The Head of State inspected the system, which Germany will transfer to Ukraine after the crew completes its training.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Germany and all the German people for the new defense package totaling more than EUR 700 million. He also noted the transfer of one more Patriot system from Germany and the high quality of German IRIS-T systems.
"A very important aspect is that you have reduced the time for production and training on these systems. Because today this time is measured in the lives of our people. And your reduction of days, sometimes weeks, will be remembered for decades,” he emphasized.
The Minister of Defense of Germany, Boris Pistorius, announced that the new package includes reconnaissance and attack drones, small arms and sniper weapons, RPGs, and 100 additional missiles to the Patriot systems that Germany is providing along with Denmark, Norway, and the Netherlands.
“With these missiles, the Ukrainian servicemen who are now training here will soon be able to protect infrastructure and save Ukrainian lives,” the minister said.
The President also got acquainted with the training process, talked to the Ukrainian defenders and presented them with state awards.
"I was very pleased to hear that our guys are talented, they used to work on Soviet-made air defense systems, but they learn very quickly. And the most important thing is that they have war experience, and they share it with their German colleagues and teach each other. As the President of our country, I was pleased to hear this,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
He emphasized that some of these warriors come from the temporarily occupied territories. And they are very motivated because they want to get their homes back as soon as possible.
