Ukraine receives licenses to produce Patriot missiles

Russia is attacking Ukraine with more and more ballistic missiles. Now, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine will soon be able to produce the only effective defensive weapon in its own country. According to Zelensky, Washington grants Kyiv licenses to produce Patriot anti-aircraft missiles. »At our last meeting, President Trump emphasized to me that he had made a final decision. “Ukraine will receive licenses to produce Patriot missiles,” Zelensky said in a voice message to reporters, according to the news agency.

Zelensky and US President Donald Trump met on Tuesday on the sidelines of the UN general debate in New York. At the beginning of July, Trump announced that the USA would give Ukraine "the right to produce Patriots." However, he later expressed himself in a much more reserved manner. At the end of July, with regard to anti-aircraft missiles, he said that the United States would have to be "very careful if we allow anyone to build them."

Even if Kyiv were to receive licenses to produce the defense missiles, this would not cover Ukraine's immediate needs. Building up production capacity in Ukraine would take more than a year. At the same time, Ukraine is working with international partners on its own missile defense system.

Dead teenager in attack on Kyiv

According to Ukrainian police, a high-rise building in Kyiv was hit in the morning in renewed Russian attacks. A 14-year-old boy was killed. At least seven other residents of the apartment block were injured by the drone attack, the police in the Ukrainian capital said on Telegram. President Volodymyr Zelenskyj confirmed the information.

For its part, Ukraine continued drone attacks on oil and industrial facilities in Russia. According to unofficial reports on Telegram, a refinery in Perm in the Urals, 1,500 kilometers from Ukraine, and a refinery in Novoshakhtinsk in southern Russia were hit. Other targets were an electronics factory in Ulyanovsk on the Volga and a chemical plant in Voronezh.

Russia has been trying to subdue Ukraine with its war of aggression for more than four and a half years. Ukraine is fighting back with the help of Western support.

According to the Kremlin, a three-way meeting to negotiate a possible end to the Russian war of aggression could take place soon. However, there are no details yet, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that such a technical-level meeting could take place in the United Arab Emirates.