According to Defense Specialist Peter Wijninga of The Hague Center for Strategic Studies, it’s not easy to disable a Patriot air defense system. “Certainly not with the resources the Russians now have at their disposal. I want to see the evidence first.”
Russia’s Defense Ministry said today it had successfully destroyed a Patriot air defense system. They would do so by means of a hypersonic Kinzhal missile strike.
“Of course it could be a lucky shot”
But Wijninga suspects it might be a bluff. ‘It’s really not easy with the resources the Russians have. Of course it could be a lucky shot. But then I’d like to see the proof, and it’s not there yet.”
Kiev, by contrast, says it was able to stop all of last night’s rocket attacks, including six of those Kinzhal missiles. “This is really special,” says Wijninga. The fact that eighteen missiles were shot down does not in itself surprise him. “Ukraine has already demonstrated that it can fire large numbers of missiles and drones from the air.”
“Russian attack strategy difficult to understand”
Even Wijninga finds it difficult to understand the Russian attack strategy. “First we had that air offensive from last September, where they attacked various places in Ukraine, sometimes with a hundred missiles at once. Then there were increasingly long pauses between attacks. Until the end of April, when the number of attacks increased again but with fewer missiles.
Source: BNR
Sharon Rock is an author and journalist who writes for 24 News Globe. She has a passion for learning about different cultures and understanding the complexities of the world. With a talent for explaining complex global issues in an accessible and engaging way, Sharon has become a respected voice in the field of world news journalism.
