Ukraine to receive old Russian air defence weapons from US: Reports

The US went on to secretly purchase binge when the Soviet Union fell apart in 1919 to collect a small number of Soviet missile defence systems so that they could be evaluated by US intelligence experts and help with training American soldiers as per The Wall Street Journal. Some of those air defence systems are now being sent to Ukraine to aid Ukrainian soldiers in shooting down Russian fighter jets and missiles. Ukrainian troops are already familiar with the operation of old Soviet weapons system. 

President Biden was permitted to send Ukraine and NATO allies the military systems from the secret Soviet arsenal under the annual funding bill he recently signed, and Congress has been informed about the transfers, as per the Journal reports, citing the US officials. The S-300 is the Russian air defence system that Ukraine already has. It does, however, require more of these systems, and "the US hopes that providing additional air defences will enable Ukraine to establish a de facto no-fly zone."

The SA-8 portable missile defence system is one of the Soviet weaponry systems that the US has handed Ukraine, as per the Journal. The SA-8 and SA-10, as NATO refers to the S-300, "operate at medium and long ranges to blunt Russia's aircraft and missile attacks," whereas "the shoulder-fired Stinger missiles provided to Ukraine by the US and NATO states are only effective against a helicopter and low-flying aircraft."

The United States is also officially negotiating with NATO former Soviet satellite nations to donate its S-300s and other old Soviet systems to Ukraine, with the US replacing the donated weaponry with modern American systems. Slovakia agreed last week to send Ukraine some of its S-300 missiles in exchange for Patriot or other replacement air defence systems from the US. Those discussions are still going on.

• Joe Biden
• Russia
• Soviet Union
• The US
• Ukraine
• Ukraine-Russia crisis
• Ukraine-Russia war
• weapons