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Pentagon to ‘rush’ Patriot missiles to Ukraine in $6bn package
The Pentagon says it will “rush” Patriot air defence missiles and artillery ammunition to Ukraine as part of its new military aid package.
The US will utilise $6bn (£4.8bn) for this purpose, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin revealed on Friday.
Patriot air defence batteries are not included.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Patriots were “urgently” needed to face a growing Russian air threat and “can and should save lives right now”.
A source confirmed to the BBC that the $6bn was part of a $60bn aid package signed into law by US President Joe Biden on Wednesday, which also includes $1bn in more immediate aid.
Mr Austin told a news conference that the US was committing to its largest security assistance package to date and would “move immediately” to get the supplies to Ukraine.
These would include air defence munitions, counter-drone systems and artillery ammunition but not Patriots.
“It’s not just Patriots that they [the Ukrainians] need, they need other types of systems and interceptors as well,” Mr Austin said. “I would caution us all in terms of making Patriot the silver bullet.”
He added that he was confident that more of the missile systems would be made available for Kyiv soon. Conversations were ongoing with European partners, he said, to deliver additional capabilities.
The Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Charles Brown, said the assistance should eliminate the Ukrainians’ need to ration shells on the frontline.
Some of the latest funding would also go to building up Ukraine’s own defence industry, so that it can start manufacturing more of the ammunition it desperately needs.
Mr Austin said Russia had already increased domestic production of artillery ammunition and other weapons – as well as being propped up by supplies from Iran and North Korea. “Understand what’s at stake for Ukraine, for Europe, and for the United States,” he said. “If Putin prevails in Ukraine – Europe would face a security threat it hasn’t seen in a lifetime. Russia will not stop in Ukraine.”
Asked whether the US aid would protect Ukrainian forces, Mr Austin said that the commitment was “material, real, and substantial” although “not instantaneous”.
“It’s going to take some time to get it in there and distribute. The Ukrainians were able to hold – with this capability, they can do a lot better.”
The defence secretary’s words come as Ukraine warned on Friday that Russia was ramping up attacks on its railways ahead of a fresh offensive.
A Ukrainian security source told the AFP news agency that Moscow wanted to damage Ukrainian railway infrastructure to “paralyse deliveries and movement of military cargo”.
US Defence Minister Lloyd Austin said the aid package was the largest committed to Ukraine to date (BBC)
Ukraine only has a handful of Patriots to complement other Western missile defence systems and existing stocks of Soviet-era surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), such as the S-300.
They are the most capable and expensive air defence systems that Ukraine has. Each Patriot battery costs around $1bn (£800m), and each missile costs nearly $4m.
Germany has already promised an extra Patriot system – and its defence and foreign ministers appealed to their European counterparts earlier this month to respond urgently.
Greece has stocks of Patriots and S-300s but said none could be spared.
“We explained why we cannot do it,” Greek Prime Minister Kyrios Mitsotakis told Skai TV.
His said his country’s air defences were “critical systems for the protection of Greek air space”.
According to reports, Spain will supply some Patriot missiles but not a full system.
Recent months have seen Kyiv step up its calls for Western assistance as its stocks of ammunition are depleted and Russia makes steady gains.
Ukrainian officials have blamed delays in military aid from the US and other Western allies for the loss of lives and territory.
(Aljazeera)
Ireland Women 118/9 in 20 overs (Alana Dalzelle 14, Orla Prendergast 26, Leah Paul 10, Alice Tector 10, Louise Little 26*; Lauren Bell 1-39, Linsey Smith 1-20, Sophie Ecclestone 3-22, Charlie Dean 2-11, Dani Gibson 2-10) lost to England Women 119/6 in 17.3 overs (Dani Wyatt Hodge 16, Nat Sciver-Brunt 48, Heather Knight 26; Aimee Maguire 2-23, Orla Prendergast 2-17) by 4 wickets
Lionel Messi marked his record sixth World Cup appearance with his first hat-trick at a FIFA tournament as Argentina beat Algeria 3-0 to open the defence of their global crown, he also became the joint highest scorer at World Cups with the feat.
The former 38-year-old forward thought he had opened the scoring in the eighth minute in Kansas City on Tuesday when he slotted home from close range, but the offside flag was raised.
The dream start to his record-setting appearance, which will be matched by Cristiano Ronaldo for Portugal against DR Congo on Wednesday, was not to be denied for long though.
A trademark, mazy run was capped by a drive on the edge of the box from that famed left foot. The power too much for Algeria keeper Luca Zidane, son of World Cup winner with France, Zinidine.
Messi doubled his tally on the hour mark with a simple tap in from a rebound off the keeper following a drive from Alexis Mac Allister.
The moment that even a player as decorated as Messi came in the 76th minute when he drilled low past the keeper from just outside the box.
The strike took Messi level with former Germany striker Miroslav Klose on 16 World Cup goals.
His substitution came just three minutes later to a standard ovation, even old maestro seemed disappointed to be removed – and most likely rested for Argentina’s tilt at becoming only the third side to defend a World Cup title.
Algeria – the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations winners – offered little, but were themselves denied an early goal when Fares Chaibi’s ninth minute strike was ruled out for offside.
Messi saw to it that there was no opening game upset to be had tat this edition, having lost their opening game at Qatar 2022 to Saudi Arabia.
Messi, who spent the majority of his club career in Spain with Barcelona before moving to French giants Paris-Saint Germain, plys his trade in US football’s Major League Soccer with Inter Miami.
Jordan and Austria open their account in the group later on Tuesday in San Francisco.
[Aljazeera]
United States sprinter Noah Lyles has set the world’s best-ever time over the rarely-run 150 metres race, clocking 14.67 seconds at the Golden Spike meet in the eastern Czech city of Ostrava.
The 28-year-old Lyles on Tuesday beat the previous best of 14.72 set by Kishane Thompson of Jamaica in Florida in April.
At Ostrava, Lyles beat Sinesipho Dambile of South Africa with 14.78, while Australian teenager Gout Gout finished third in 14.96.
“Was there ever any doubt? Was there ever any doubt? We came for a show,” an elated Lyles told Czech TV.
Earlier this month, Lyles took a comfortable win at the Wanda Diamond League meet in Rome with a 9.88 in the 100m, his fastest since clinching gold at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The high-energy, anime-loving showman has had strong indoor and outdoor performances throughout the year so far, and was named on this year’s Time100 list of the most influential people.
Dutch star Femke Broeders-Bol had to bow to in-form Swiss Audrey Werro in her outdoor debut in the 800m.
The 26-year-old Broeders-Bol has switched from 400m hurdles, in which she had won two world gold medals, and clocked an impressive 1 minute 57.13 seconds for second place.
“It was so cool, I love racing in Ostrava. It was tough, but I enjoyed it,” she said.
Broeders-Bol has also claimed multiple medals as the anchor leg in 4x400m relay teams, notably a gold in the mixed event in the Paris Olympics.
She ran her first 800m since 2017 in February, clocking a national record of 1 minute 59.07 seconds before withdrawing from the rest of the indoor season to nurse a foot injury.
The 22-year-old Werro won in 1 minute 54.45 seconds, half a second behind her personal best from March, after shedding Broeders-Bol with 200 metres to run.
“It was a really crazy run, but the time is very good, so I’m really happy,” Werro said.
Having set the eighth best time ever, she stayed over a second behind the oldest world record in athletics of 1:53.28 set in 1983 by Jarmila Kratochvilova of then-Czechoslovakia, who watched the race from the stands.
South Africa’s 20-year-old Bayanda Walaza won the men’s 100m as he equalled his personal best of 9.94 seconds, beating Emmanuel Eseme of Cameroon with 9.99 seconds.
US favourites Ronnie Baker and Jordan Anthony were demoted to the fourth and fifth spots, respectively, with times well over 10 seconds.
[Aljazeera]
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