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Ukraine on Wednesday dismissed claims that a U.S.-built Patriot missile defense system had been destroyed by Russian missiles during a barrage effectively fended off near Kyiv.
Moscow claimed it used a hypersonic Kinzhal missile to destroy the system during an overnight strike earlier this week. U.S. officials later said the system likely was damaged but not destroyed. Kinzhal is a Russian word for “dagger.”
“Do not worry about the fate of the Patriot,” Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat said Thursday. “From a technical point of view, Patriot is a complex, a battery, a division, a system. To destroy the system with some kind of ‘dagger’ – well, it’s impossible.
“Everything that they (the Russians) say there, let it remain in their propaganda archive.”
Ukraine said it intercepted all 18 missiles fired on Kyiv overnighting Monday into Tuesday morning. The Patriot system, sent to Ukraine last month, has become a key part of the city’s defense.
Developments:
∙ Russian forces shelled a hospital and a high-rise building in Beryslav on May 17, the Kherson region’s prosecutor’s office reported. No casualty numbers were immediately available.
∙ The European Union’s latest sanctions package probably will not include a plan to permanently shut natural gas pipelines the Kremlin turned off following its invasion of Ukraine, POLITICO reported, citing diplomats it did not name.
Russian military plane near Alaska ‘not a threat’
A Russian military plane was seen operating in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone on Monday but remained in international airspace and did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said Wednesday. The flight occurred as several planned large-scale military training exercises are taking place around Alaska, NORAD said in a statement. The zone begins where sovereign airspace ends and is an area that requires the ready identification, location and control of all aircraft “in the interest of national security,” the statement said.
“This Russian activity in the Alaska ADIZ occurs regularly and is not seen as a threat,” NORAD said.
Crucial Ukraine-Russia grain deal could end Thursday
Negotiations are in the final hours to save a pact that’s enabled Ukraine to export millions of tons of grain and help ease a global food crisis despite the war with Russia. The agreement has been extended twice already. But Russia has threatened to pull out of the arrangement Thursday unless a list of its demands are met, including lifting some restrictions on its agricultural exports.
The deal between Kyiv and Moscow enables Ukraine to safely use its Black Sea ports to ship cargo despite the war taking place on land. It was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey last year. Ukraine is a major supplier of wheat, barley, vegetable oil and other food products to Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia.
− Kim Hjelmgaard
Council of Europe wants Moscow to compensate Ukraine
More than 40 countries in the Council of Europe agreed on a system to estimate the damages in Ukraine from Russia’s invasion, part of a plan to compel Moscow to help rebuild the nation after the war. Ukraine was the dominant topic during the meeting in Reykjavík, Iceland, where France, Germany and the United Kingdom were among the countries that agreed to form a new office where victims of the war can report the harm they have suffered. The United States, Japan and Canada have observer status in the council.
“Our support for Ukraine remains as strong and resolute as ever,” Finland President Sauli Niinistö said. “With the establishment of a Register of Damages, the Council of Europe has taken an important step toward ensuring Russia’s accountability.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz acknowledged no plan for forcing Moscow to pay was in place, adding that efforts to use Russian assets frozen under sanctions probably would not be legal under current international law.
Contributing: The Associated Press
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