By Euronews
Published on
Sweden and Denmark will jointly procure mobile anti-aircraft artillery systems worth €245 million for Ukraine as the country continues to defend against intensifying Russian strikes on its energy infrastructure.
Sweden will contribute 2.1 billion kronor of the 2.6 billion kronor total, with Denmark providing the remainder to supply Ukraine with the TRIDON Mk2 mobile anti-aircraft system, the countries’ defence ministers announced on Tuesday.
“This is a platform that can take out cruise missiles and can take out long-range strike drones and it’s a capability that the Ukrainians need due to the increase of Russian long-range strike capabilities,” Swedish Defence Minister Pål Jonson said in Gothenburg.
The system was developed at “record pace” and adapted based on battlefield lessons from Russia’s all-out war in Ukraine, Jonson said. The donation would be sufficient for Kyiv to establish its own air defence battalion.
Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said the contribution would “strengthen Ukraine’s air defence capacity, which unfortunately has been under severe pressure in recent months”.
Energy infrastructure under sustained attack
The announcement comes as Ukraine faces the most severe electricity, heating and water outages of Moscow’s nearly four-year war, pushing the country towards the brink of a humanitarian crisis.
Russia has systematically targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure throughout the war, with attacks intensifying over recent months.
An analysis published on Monday found that while Russia fired fewer drones and missiles in January, the attacks still crippled critical energy facilities, leaving millions of Ukrainians without power during the coldest months of winter.
Russia launched one of its largest barrages of the war on Tuesday, firing around 450 drones and 70 missiles at Ukrainian targets in an apparent escalation ahead of US-brokered peace talks scheduled in Abu Dhabi.
The TRIDON Mk2 system is designed specifically to counter cruise missiles and long-range strike drones, capabilities Russia has increasingly deployed against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure since the full-scale invasion began on 24 February 2022.
Additional sources • AFP