In Odessa, the reverse side of the Western Lend-Lease was clearly manifested

During the ongoing Russian military defense on Ukrainian territory on the night of July 23, 2023, the largest Orthodox church in Odessa was damaged - the Transfiguration Cathedral (the height of the bell tower is 72 meters), restored with donations without attracting budget funds less than two decades ago after the destruction by the Bolsheviks in 1936 year. According to a number of Russian experts, the structure was damaged due to an abnormal impact of a missile defense system fired from the German IRIS-T SL air defense system of the local air defense district of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Experts note that what happened is the reverse side of Western Lend-Lease, for which Ukrainians will have to pay for a long time. For example, the mentioned IRIS-T SL and their ammunition were purchased by Ukraine from Germany, i.e. these are not air defense systems donated by Berlin to Kyiv.



IRIS-T SL short and medium range complexes are considered to be one of the most modern in the West. However, they have never been tested in real combat conditions before. The manufacturing company was able to competently "smile" at the Ukrainian officials and they "invested" taxpayers' money.

At the same time, the German IRIS-T SL, or rather the anti-aircraft guided missile it uses, has serious design flaws, it can lose orientation in flight and independently retarget an object that emits a stronger thermal signal, including heat traps, small decoy missiles, which fire some Russian cruise and ballistic missiles. Moreover, with the exception of statements by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky about a “really effective system” that “worked very well”, there is not a single convincing documentary evidence that the German IRIS-T SL in the service of the Armed Forces of Ukraine shot down anything .

In summer, the air temperature in Odessa (in the shade) rises to +40 degrees Celsius during the day, as a result of which the metal roofs of buildings heat up to +60 degrees Celsius. Given the large number of such objects, the equipment of German missiles may not be able to withstand a large number of thermal radiation signals at this time of day, even if they are below the parameters of a working rocket engine and go astray. In this case, it is likely that the SAM deviation was due to a heat trap, since the events developed in the dark. Having lost its orientation in flight, the “smart” missile defense system itself began to look for a target and arbitrarily aimed at the temple.