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A6 WORLD NEWS
Thursday 20 april 2023
U.S.-made Patriot guided missile systems arrive in Ukraine

By ADAM PEMBLE not help arm Russia, one of
Associated Press its key allies.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Amer- The Chinese Commerce
ican-made Patriot missiles Ministry said in a statement
have arrived in Ukraine, the that Beijing maintains strict
country’s defense minister control over the export of
said Wednesday, provid- drones in keeping with in-
ing Kyiv with a long-sought ternational standards pre-
new shield against the Rus- venting them from being
sian airstrikes that have used for nonpeaceful pur-
devastated cities and civil- poses.
ian infrastructure. China, which has repeat-
The U.S. agreed in October edly criticized the U.S. and
to send the surface-to-air other countries’ support for
systems, which can target Ukraine as “adding fuel to
aircraft, cruise missiles and the fire” of the war, has an
shorter-range ballistic mis- “objective and fair stance”
siles such as those that Rus- and seeks peace, the
sia has used to bombard statement said.
residential areas and the Elsewhere, Russian Presi-
Ukrainian power grid. dent Vladimir Putin said
“Today, our beautiful Ukrai- Wednesday that he re-
nian sky becomes more cently visited Moscow-con-
secure,” Defense Minister Members of US 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command stands next to a Patriot surface-to-air trolled parts of Ukraine’s
Oleksii Reznikov said in a missile battery during the NATO multinational ground based air defence units exercise “Tobruq southern Kherson and east-
tweet. Legacy 2017” at the Siauliai airbase some 230 km. (144 miles) east of the capital Vilnius, Lithuania, ernmost Luhansk provinces.
The missiles are the latest on July 20, 2017. “The purpose of the trip
contribution from West- Associated Press was to meet with the mili-
ern allies, who have also system as among the mili- scribed possessing the sys- to Ukraine’s arsenal against tary, whom I did not want
pledged tanks, artillery and tary items delivered within tem as “a dream” but said its bigger enemy. to distract for a long time
some types of fighter jets as the past week to Ukraine. he was told in the U.S. at The Patriot was first de- and a long distance from
Ukraine gears up for an ex- German Foreign Minister the time that it was “impos- ployed by the U.S. in the the deployment of the units
pected counteroffensive. Annalena Baerbock con- sible.” 1980s. The system costs ap- they command,” he said.
Reznikov thanked the Unit- firmed that to lawmakers Ukrainian personnel have proximately $4 million per Kyiv officials have reported
ed States, Germany and Wednesday in Berlin. been trained on the Patriot missile, and the launch- daily civilian, but not mili-
the Netherlands, without Germany has also deliv- battery, which requires up ers cost about $10 million tary, casualties from Rus-
saying how many missile ered the second of four to 90 troops to operate and each, analysts say. At such sian bombardment.
systems had been deliv- medium-range IRIS-T air maintain it. a cost, it’s not advanta- At least four civilians were
ered or when they arrived. defense systems that it “Our air defenders have geous to use the Patriot to killed and 27 others were
Ukrainian air force spokes- pledged last year, Baer- mastered (the Patriot sys- shoot down the smaller, wounded Tuesday and
man Yurii Ihnat said late bock said. tems) as far as they could. cheaper Iranian drones overnight, Ukraine’s de-
Tuesday that delivery of Reznikov said he first asked And our partners have kept that Russia has been buy- fense ministry reported.
the systems would be a for Patriot systems when vis- their word,” Reznikov wrote. ing and using in Ukraine. A 50-year-old man and
landmark event, allowing iting the U.S. in August 2021, Experts have cautioned In other developments 44-year-old woman were
Ukrainians to knock out five months before Rus- that the system’s effec- Wednesday, China denied killed in a Russian airstrike on
Russian targets at a greater sia’s full-scale invasion and tiveness is limited and that recent reports that Chinese a border town in the north-
distance. Germany’s fed- seven years after Russia il- it may not significantly drones have been found eastern Kharkiv region,
eral government website legally annexed Ukraine’s change the shape of the on Ukraine battlefields. Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said
on Tuesday listed a Patriot Crimea peninsula. He de- war, even though it will add China has insisted that it will in televised remarks. q

Caribbean leaders agree on plan to ban assault-style weapons

Associated Press regulations. to take a decision to ban ister and Caricom Chair- as opposed to handguns or
GEORGETOWN, Guyana The Caribbean leaders had the use and presence of man Phillip Davis told the other weapons that would
(AP) — Caribbean Commu- called a roundtable on assault weapons in the ci- summit that in his country be unaffected by this
nity leaders have agreed the issue amid complaints vilian population of our na- 98.6% of recovered illegal week’s proposed ban.
on plans to introduce bans from several governments tions,” host Prime Minister firearms could be traced Rowley said countries in
in their countries on assault- about an increase in gang- Keith Rowley told reporters to the United States, in Haiti the Caribbean would need
style weapons mostly man- land violence, bolstered at the end of the summit, 87.7% and in Jamaica 67%. legislation to support the
ufactured in the U.S. to curb by the availability of high- attended by a majority of “Jamaica had a stagger- ban, and he called on op-
spikes in gun violence and powered, military-style heads of government. ing homicide rate of 52.9 position parties throughout
weapons smuggling in the weapons smuggled mostly The move came just a few per 100,000 inhabitants,” he the region to support any
15-nation Caricom bloc. from the U.S. Jamaica, weeks after several mem- said, as compared with the parliamentary action by
The decison came late Trinidad, The Bahamas, St. ber nations announced global average of about their governments.
Tuesday at the end of a Lucia and Barbados have plans to join with Mexico to 7.5 per 100,000. He noted that the Carib-
two-day summit in Trinidad all complained about an sue American gun manu- However, Davis did not bean leaders have asked
on crime. The bans would increase in gun murders facturers over the weapons have figures on what per- U.S. President Joe Biden for
require a mix of legislation in recent years. “Caricom smuggled into their coun- centage of the seized guns dialogue on the weapons
and changes in licensing heads have agreed today tries. Bahamian Prime Min- were assault-style weapons issue.q