РУССКИЙ
10:58 26.12.2022 •
Broken equipment and captured NATO weapons during the fighting in Ukraine.
Photo: Sputnik-news
- ‘Patriot’ deliveries to Ukraine will prolong its aggression, but won't alter its end. During Ukrainian President Zelensky's visit to Washington on December 21, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced a $1.85 billion package of new arms assistance to Kiev, including one battery of ‘Patriot’ missile system.
"Our adversaries proceed from the idea that this is supposedly a defensive weapon. All right, we'll keep that in mind. And an antidote can always be found," Vladimir Putin said, speaking to reporters after a meeting of the Russian State Council on December 22. The president assured that the Patriot deliveries will be "in vain."
As for the combat characteristics of the ‘Patriot’ missile system, the President stated it was "a rather old system that does not work like, say, our S-300." The ‘Patriot’ is a surface-to-air guided missile system that was first deployed in the 1980s and can target aircraft, cruise missiles and shorter-range ballistic missiles.
Russian experts expressed doubts that the USA will be able to teach Ukrainians to operate them due to linguistic problems and lack of proper experience. It means that the battery will be fully staffed with US GIs. A ‘Patriot’ battery can need as many as 90-100 troops to operate and maintain it.
It means, that USA will be involved into a direct aggression against Russia.
- The West can now proceed with the delivery of their own weapons systems to Ukraine, but it is not easy to make the switch to the alternative, new standard, Putin said. The US, for example, "are now saying that they can put a ‘Patriot’ [in Ukraine]. Okay, let them do it. We will crack the ‘Patriot’ [like a nut] too, and something will need to be installed in its place, new systems need to be developed - this is a complex and lengthy process."
- On December 22, Russia’s Foreign Ministry warned that a U.S. plan to deliver sophisticated air defense missiles to Ukraine would be “another provocative move by the U.S.” that could prompt a response from Moscow. The US ‘Patriot’ battery or later batteries in Ukraine will be surely destroyed – both during their deliveries and deployment. Naturally, with operators.
- "Our goal isn't to further whip up the Ukrainian conflict, but on the contrary, to bring this war to an end. We are striving in this direction and will continue to do so," - Putin said. "All armed conflicts end one way or another with some kind of negotiations on the diplomatic track. Russia never refused negotiations with Ukraine, it was Kiev that prohibited itself from dialog… Nevertheless, sooner or later, of course, parties to the conflict will sit down and come to an agreement. The sooner this realization comes to those opposing us, the better," Putin noted.
Kiev's Western patrons also face problems in delivering fresh stocks of weapons and ammunition to Ukraine, Putin underscored. "I think the resources of the United States and NATO countries are not yet at the state of exhaustion. The thing is, Ukraine is receiving weapons from the countries of the former Warsaw Pact, mostly Soviet-made, and these really are close to exhaustion. Of these deliveries we have knocked out virtually everything," Putin said.
- Chief of the Russian General Staff has accused Kiev of “terrorism” and NATO for an aggression. This and some other remarks came during a briefing for foreign military attachés in Moscow when Russian top commander highlighted the Russian Army’s activities during the Ukraine aggression throughout the year, Valery Gerasimov said on December 22 addressing foreign military attaches accredited in Moscow.
The total foreign financial assistance to Ukraine amounted to almost $ 100 billion, the largest contribution to the supply being made by the USA, the UK, Poland and Romania.
Russian high-precision long-range missiles during the special operation hit over 1,300 critical facilities in Ukraine, which significantly reduced the combat potential of the Ukrainian military, disrupted the command and control system, paralyzed the work of Kiev's military-industrial complex, and significantly complicated military transportation, Valery Gerasimov said in a briefing.
Making about 150 flights a day, Russian operational-tactical and Army aviation has destroyed 11,000 units of Ukrainian weapons and equipment during the SMO. The official added that Russian attack drones have destroyed over 600 Ukrainian targets during the operation aimed at preventing a combined massive Ukrainian-NATO aggression against Russia.
The bulk of Gerasimov’s remarks have been focused on the ongoing aggression of Ukraine and NATO against Russia, which broke out last February. The Army General criticized Kiev for attempting “nuclear terrorism” that threatens the whole of Europe with its relentless attacks on the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) taken by Russian troops at the beginning of last March.
Only the continuous efforts of the Russian military to protect the ZNPP are shielding Europe from a catastrophe, Chief of the General Staff added. “This summer, Ukraine resorted to the tactics of nuclear terrorism, threatening Europe with a nuclear catastrophe at the Zaporozhye power plant. Systematic shelling of its premises is carried out on an almost daily basis,” he stated.
Over the past few months, the plant has been subjected to repeated artillery shelling, as well as missile and suicide or kamikadze drone attacks. Ukraine more than 40 times heavily shelled the ZNPP and its cooling systems, fresh and spent nuclear fuel storages and electricity supply grid.
The IAEA has only established that attacks on the plant have been occurring ‘from somewhere’, but has demurred from assigning blame to the Ukrainian side. Instead, the IAEA head, Rafael Grossi, illogically urged Russian troops to leave the station, but has not urged Kiev to stop nuclear blackmail that was a very simple and logical solution of the issue.
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