Numerous heavy weapons from the west are in use in Ukraine. Russia’s head of state Putin sees the deliveries so far, however, left. However, he warned that Russia would react if Ukraine received long-range missiles.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to launch serious attacks on Ukraine if Western long-range missiles are delivered to Ukraine. “If they deliver, then we will draw the appropriate conclusions and use our means of destruction, of which we have enough, to inflict blows on those objects that we have not yet attacked,” Putin said in an interview with the state television channel Rossiya 1 The goal of western arms deliveries is to prolong the conflict in Ukraine as much as possible, he said.
However, the head of the Kremlin appeared relaxed in view of the delivery of state-of-the-art HIMARS multiple rocket launchers announced by the USA. For Ukraine, this will not change anything fundamental in the distribution of power. “There is nothing new here,” Putin said. The Ukrainian armed forces are already using such Russian-made systems, and the US deliveries would rather replace destroyed weapons.
Nevertheless, it is crucial here which missiles would be used. According to all that could be heard, the Americans wanted to deliver missiles with a range of between 45 and 70 kilometers. That is roughly what the previous Uragan, Smerch and Grad missiles did, Putin said. At the beginning of the war, which Putin only calls “special operations”, Ukraine had 515 such systems. The Kremlin chief assumes that Ukraine currently has 360 of them in service.
The picture is similar with the artillery ordered by Ukraine in the west. “Apparently, this is also about making up for what was lost, what was destroyed in the fighting,” said the Russian head of state. In addition, the Russian air defense has now destroyed most of the combat drones in Ukraine. “Our air defense systems crack them like nuts.”