Odesa can be protected by additional SAMP/T or Patriot systems – Zelenskyy

To protect Odesa from the air, Ukraine needs additional SAMP/T or Patriot air defence systems.

Source: President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a press conference in Kyiv on Wednesday after meeting with Prime Minister of Ireland Leo Varadkar, writes Interfax-Ukraine news agency

Quote: "There are two systems today. I was negotiating with President Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni when we got SAMP/T. We won't say now where those systems are, but they work, they work great. 

If we had appropriate additional systems, they would protect the infrastructure of Odesa and not only the port infrastructure. 

Or Patriot systems… You also know very well who gave us these systems. But all this is still not enough to protect the relevant infrastructure." 

Background:

• On the night of 19 July, Russia launched 30 cruise missiles, one aircraft missile, and 32 Shahed kamikaze drones over Ukraine; Ukrainian air defence destroyed 14 missiles and 23 Russian UAVs. 
• The Russians attacked objects of critical infrastructure and military facilities; the main target of the attack was Odesa Oblast.
  Russian missiles hit the territory of the Odesa port in a Russian night attack on Odesa Oblast; missile hits created a crater, and storage points with tobacco and fireworks were damaged (firefighters are extinguishing the fire at the moment); tourist bases and hotels were damaged in the oblast, and 12 people sought medical assistance. 
• The military and rescue workers showed the consequences of a powerful combined Russian attack on Odesa Oblast on 19 July.

For reference: Ukrainian air defence cannot shoot down X-22 and Onyx missiles. Modern systems supplied by international partners are not enough to "close the sky" over Ukraine.

The Air Force stressed that Ukraine cannot deploy air defence along the entire border, so it needs modern modifications of the F-16 multi-purpose fighter jets.

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