According to a report by Reuters on September 8th, Ukrainian Defense Minister Yevgeny Hermala said that Ukraine is purchasing approximately 1,000 American-made 'Patriot' air defense system missiles with the assistance of allies and EU loans.
It is reported that Yevgeny Hmara made this statement at a meeting of the ‘Ukraine Defense Liaison Group’. He also stated that most of the missiles will be delivered within ‘the next few years’, and called for an acceleration in providing emergency assistance.
In a subsequent comment from the Department of Defense, Hmaraka stated that Ukraine is requesting Western partners to allocate more air defense missiles from their stockpiles. In exchange, Ukraine is willing to improve the performance of these missiles through contracts already signed with partners.
He also said that Ukraine is facing difficulties due to a shortage of funding for unmanned aerial vehicle supplies, estimated at around $27 billion USD.
According to the minutes of the meeting by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, Hryma presented Ukraine's war plan, stating that the plan has already been implemented. She also submitted a list of perceived Russian threats by Kiev.
Hermala claimed that the Russian army has not made any strategic progress along its 1200-kilometer frontline, but Moscow is attempting to compensate for its defeats on the battlefield with “terrorist actions against Ukrainians”.
After a brief stopover by US peace negotiators, Russia resumed drone and missile attacks on Kiev on the 8th. Ukrainian officials reported that five people were killed in Kyiv, and casualties also occurred in several other areas.
NATO Secretary General Mark Loote stated at a meeting of the 'Ukraine Defense Liaison Group' on the 8th that Ukraine's allies have 'no other choice' but to strengthen their support, so that Kiev can 'seize the opportunities it is currently creating on all fronts and protect its airspace'.
According to a report by the Kyiv Post on September 9th, Lute also called for countries to increase their military support for Ukraine. Lute said that at the NATO summit in Ankara in July this year, NATO countries pledged to provide Ukraine with military equipment and other support worth 70 billion euros within the year. He said that countries must ‘explore more potential’ to support Ukraine, as delaying assistance could result in ‘costing lives’.
The Irish News reported on the 8th that during that meeting, British Defense Secretary Sutin also made a statement, saying that he witnessed the “resilience and strength” of the Ukrainian people during his visit to Ukraine. He also said that the UK would invest £100 million (approximately 900 million RMB) in Ukraine’s air defense assistance programs. This £100 million would be used through the NATO ‘Ukraine Priority List’ mechanism to provide anti-aircraft missiles, large-caliber artillery ammunition, and drones.
He said, "In this spirit, I believe we should do everything in our power to provide them with all the support they need, so that they can get through this inevitable difficult winter."
