Germany allows Ukraine to use Patriot system against Russia

Major General Christian Freuding, head of the German Defense Ministry's special headquarters for Ukraine affairs, told ARD television that the Ukrainian Armed Forces will shoot down Russian aircraft flying over Russian territory from Patriot air defense systems transferred by Berlin.

“It is very likely that Patriot systems will now also be used in the Kharkiv region and on Russian territory. They can be used within the framework of international law,” said Major General Freuding.

However, Major General Freuding did not specify whether Russian territory was attacked by weapons produced and supplied by Germany.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced on May 30 that Berlin has decided to transfer the third Patriot system to Kiev by mid-April 2024.

The German newspaper Bild quoted military sources as saying that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had at least once illegally used one of the air defense systems provided by Germany to attack Russian targets.

German government spokesman Wolfgang Büchner confirmed on May 31 that Berlin had allowed Kiev to use German weapons to attack Russian territory in the Kharkiv region. He stressed that Germany, as an arms supplier to Ukraine, did not become a party to the conflict.

Earlier on May 30, national security advisers from the US, France, Britain and Germany agreed that Kiev could use Western weapons to repel attacks in the Kharkiv region.

The weapons supplied by Germany could include Panzerhaubitze 2000 self-propelled howitzers and MARS-II MLRS systems. Minister Pistorius stressed that the decision covers “all” German systems transferred to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.