A U.S. soldier watches Ukrainian artillerymen fire the M109 self-propelled howitzer at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, May 12, 2022. Soldiers from the U.S. and Norway trained Armed Forces of Ukraine artillerymen on the howitzers as part of security assistance packages from their respective countries. (Spencer Rhodes/U.S. Army)
WASHINGTON — Dozens of Ukrainian soldiers at Fort Sill, Okla., have finished learning how to use the Patriot missile system, part of the more than 7,000 troops the U.S. has trained to fight off Russian forces invading their country, the Pentagon said Thursday.
Sixty-five Ukrainians were taken to the Army base in January to learn how to field the air-defense system to help defend their country against Russian attacks. Fort Sill, where U.S. troops are trained to use the Patriot, is about 80 miles southwest of Oklahoma City near the town of Lawton. The base is home to the Army’s Air Defense Artillery School and Field Artillery School.
“Once in Ukraine, the Patriot air-defense system will add to Ukraine’s layered air defenses to provide protection and shield from Russia’s wanton brutal attacks on innocent civilians,” said Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the top Pentagon spokesperson.
The Pentagon has said it takes about 90 troops to operate and maintain the Patriot missile system. Ukraine is receiving three Patriot batteries — one from the U.S. and one each from Germany and the Netherlands. Ukraine leaders had repeatedly requested the Patriot systems from Western countries before the United States agreed to send one in December.
The U.S. has so far committed more than $32 billion in military weapons, vehicles and equipment since Russia launched its war in Ukraine in February 2022. Various military aid packages have included the Patriot, Stryker armored personnel carriers, Bradley Fighting Vehicles and M1 Abrams tanks.
Ryder noted 4,000 of the 7,000 Ukrainians troops trained by the U.S. military are in two brigades — one equipped with Bradleys and one with Strykers — that finished combined arms training in Germany this month. Another 1,200 are now being trained at the Grafenwoehr and Hohenfels training areas in Germany, he added.
The training comes at a time when the weather is beginning to warm in Europe and Ukraine is preparing for expected waves of new Russian attacks.
Military officials in Kyiv, the Ukraine capital, said Thursday that Ukrainian forces repelled dozens of Russian attacks Wednesday and Thursday.
“Over the past 24 hours, the enemy launched five missile attacks and 25 airstrikes, [and] conducted 34 attacks using multiple launch rocket systems,” Ukraine’s General Staff of the Armed Forces said Thursday in a social media post. “Units of the Defense Forces of Ukraine repelled more than 60 enemy attacks. Bilohorivka, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Marinka remain at the epicenter of hostilities.”
Ryder told reporters at the Pentagon that more Ukrainian troops would travel to Fort Sill and European training areas as it becomes necessary.
“We will continue to train them, continue to have those kinds of discussions on what kind of future training might they need,” he said. “They need to be able to ensure that they have the forces they need on the actual battlefield.”
