Israeli Ambassador to Ukraine Michael Brodsky says Israel sent Ukraine Patriot air defense systems, received from the United States in the early 1990s.
The diplomat said this in an interview with Marichka Dovbenko, which he gave for the first time in Ukrainian, Ukrinform reports.
“In the early 1990s, when the first Gulf War took place (also known as Operation Desert Storm, which lasted from January 17 to February 28, 1991 – ed.), we received Patriot systems from the United States. By the way, these systems are now in Ukraine – these are systems that had been in service with Israel in the early 1990s and then we agreed to transfer them to Ukraine. Unfortunately, not much was said about this, but when some say Israel did not help Ukraine militarily, it’s not true. Israel helped in a military sense as well,” Brodsky said.
Answering the question of why Israel never comments on military assistance to Ukraine, the ambassador said he would rather not discuss this “sensitive” topic.
“I always emphasize that it is better to talk about these topics not in the media, not publicly, but through special channels that are in place. Therefore, let’s leave this topic to specialists, to those who work in this area,” the diplomat noted.
As Ukrinform reported earlier, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Germany had already given Ukraine a quarter of its Patriot air defense systems and is now unable to provide more, but Berlin is looking for an opportunity to buy such systems from partners for their subsequent handover to Ukraine.
Source: Israel gives Ukraine old Patriot systems - ambassador
