Russia will draw conclusions in the event of deliveries of American long-range missiles to Ukraine and may strike at those objects that it does not yet strike, President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with the journalist of the Rossiya 1 TV channel Pavel Zarubin.

Commenting on the US decision to transfer new multiple launch rocket systems to Ukraine, the Russian leader said that Kyiv's requests are most likely related to the desire to make up for the loss of military equipment and we are talking about missiles with a range of 45-70 km, similar to Soviet and Russian-made systems, such as Grad ”, “Smerch” and “Hurricane”, which are already in service in the Ukrainian army.

“We proceed from the fact that this supply from the United States and some other countries is connected with making up for the losses of this military equipment.

There is nothing new here, and this does not change anything in essence, ”Putin said.

The President explained that at the time of the start of the special operation, the Ukrainian army had approximately 515 missile systems, 380 of which were destroyed.

Responding to a question about the possibility of Washington transferring long-range missiles to Kyiv, Putin said that Russia could strike new targets.

“If they are and will be supplied, we will draw appropriate conclusions from this and use our means of destruction, which we have enough to strike at those objects that we have not yet struck,” the president replied.

At the same time, Putin stressed that "all the fuss" around the supply of weapons to Ukraine has only one goal - to prolong the armed conflict.

The Russian leader also drew attention to the fact that the drones that Kyiv has been using since the beginning of the special operation are foreign-made and Russian air defense systems are effectively working against them.

“Shock unmanned systems - they have been used from the very beginning.

But they are used effectively only where there is no military air defense system.

We have.

"Beeches", "Tors", "Shells" work extremely efficiently.

Their drones, our air defense systems click like nuts.

Destroyed dozens, just dozens,” Putin said.

  • RIA News

The official representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Major General Igor Konashenkov, said that since the start of the special military operation in Ukraine, the Russian Armed Forces have destroyed 189 Ukrainian aircraft, 1,114 unmanned aerial vehicles, 3,416 armored vehicles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as 470 installations of multiple launch rocket systems. 

Also, 129 helicopters, 330 anti-aircraft missile systems, 1,778 field artillery pieces and mortars, as well as 3,419 units of special military vehicles were destroyed.

On Sunday, the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, released a video of the destruction of five 155-mm American howitzers with ammunition in Lisichansk.

Kadyrov explained that the location of the howitzers was calculated by calculating the ballistic trajectory by the forces of the special forces "Akhmat" together with the 2nd Army Corps of the People's Militia of the LPR.

“A few pinpoint strikes and five 155-mm howitzers, along with ammunition, are now a useless pile of metal,” he said.

Recall that earlier the presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov noted that the actions of Western countries to pump up Ukraine with weapons only exacerbate tensions.

At the same time, he stressed that Western arms supplies to Kyiv do not affect the course of the special operation.

“Of course, such pumping up of Ukraine with weapons, especially more modern each time, does not change the parameters of a special military operation (in any case, the goals of a special military operation will be achieved), but will bring more suffering to Ukraine, which is just a tool in the hands of those countries that weapons are being supplied there,” the Kremlin spokesman added.

Earlier, US President Joe Biden announced the allocation of a new package of military assistance to Ukraine, involving the supply of HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems and ammunition.

Moscow has repeatedly noted that the supply of weapons by the West to Kyiv only delays the hostilities.

The head of the Russian Defense Ministry, Sergei Shoigu, noted that any transport of the North Atlantic Alliance that arrived on the territory of the country with weapons or materiel for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine would be considered by the Russian side as a legitimate target for destruction.