**Metinvest Engineers Develop Armor for Ukraine’s Patriot Air Defense System**
Engineers at Metinvest, Ukraine’s largest steel producer, have developed an armored protection system for the control module of the Patriot air defense system. The company announced this on January 3.
Ukraine has received several Patriot systems from countries like Germany, the US, and Romania. However, there were reports of damage to these systems during Russia’s aerial attacks. Ukraine also uses mock-ups to protect the Patriots.
The new armor was created in just over a month and is made from Metinvest’s Ukrainian armor steel. It weighs over 2.6 tons and consists of nearly 200 elements, including armored steel plates up to 8 millimeters thick. The company claims that the weight of the armor does not affect the system’s functionality or mobility.
Metinvest has also been producing steel shields for other military vehicles, such as T-64 and T-72 tanks, US-made M1 Abrams tanks, and Bradley infantry fighting vehicles. They are now preparing to integrate shields into various Leopard 2 tank modifications.
**Ukraine Survey Reveals Divide on Conceding Territory**
A recent survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology found that around 38% of Ukrainians are open to conceding some territories while preserving independence in order to end the war with Russia as fast as possible.