President Zelensky: Russia will not be able to take Kharkiv if Ukraine is given two Patriots

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi said that if Ukraine has two more Patriot air defense systems for the air defense of Kharkiv, Russia will not be able to take the city.

He said this in an interview with ABC News.

"The situation is very serious. We cannot afford to lose Kharkiv," Zelenskyi said.

He noted that over the past few days, hundreds of people in Kharkiv Oblast have been killed or injured.

Asked by journalists whether he believes that the United States is to blame for the current situation in Kharkiv, Zelenskyy said that "the whole world is to blame."

"The whole world is to blame. They gave Putin the opportunity to occupy Ukrainian territories. But now the world can help," he said.

Answering a journalistʼs question about the meeting with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in Kyiv, Zelenskyy said that "dialogue is good, but now Ukraine needs help."

“All we need are two Patriot systems. Russia will not be able to occupy Kharkiv if we have them," he said.

• On the morning of May 10, Russia launched a new offensive in the Kharkiv region. According to Zelenskyi, the Defense Forces knew about the plans of the occupiers in the region and were preparing a counterattack. Later, the General Staff of the Armed Forces reported that the occupiers "wedged themselves into the defense." Currently, the operational situation remains complex and dynamically changing.
• On May 14, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken paid an unannounced visit to Kyiv against the backdrop of a new Russian offensive on the Kharkiv region. During the meeting with the US Secretary of State, President Zelenskyi emphasized that Ukraine currently needs two Patriot systems — for Kharkiv and Kharkiv Oblast.
• The day before, Bloomberg, citing sources, wrote that the US plans to send another battery of the Patriot air defense system along with radars to the Ukrainian army.
• Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia in February 2022, Western countries have provided Ukraine with various air defense systems, all missiles can be shot down only by American Patriot air defense systems, of which the Ukrainian military has only three. At the end of February 2024, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the transfer of ten Patriot air defense systems to Kyiv would radically change the situation in the war. In April, he said that Ukraine needs 25 Patriot systems to completely close the sky from air attacks. Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba repeatedly called on foreign partners to transfer 5-7 Patriot systems to Ukraine and called this number the minimum necessary.