Putin will aim for new targets in case of missile delivery to Kyiv

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Sunday that Moscow would strike new targets if the West supplied long-range missiles to Ukraine, judging that the current arms deliveries were aimed at “prolonging the conflict”.

If long-range missiles are delivered to Ukraine, “then we will draw the appropriate conclusions and use our weapons […] to hit sites that we have not targeted so far”, said Vladimir Putin, quoted by Russian news agencies. He did not specify which targets could be affected.

He did not define the range from which Moscow would react, nor specify which targets could be targeted. These statements come a few days after the United States announced its decision to deliver to Ukraine Himars (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) multiple rocket launchers with a range of about 80 km.

Military experts point out that this range is slightly greater than that of similar Russian systems, which would allow Kyiv forces to strike enemy artillery from out of reach. US President Joe Biden, however, on Monday ruled out delivering long-range rocket launcher systems to Ukraine that could reach Russia, despite repeated requests from Kyiv for such weapons.

Russia claims to have destroyed tanks supplied by Eastern European countries

Vladimir Putin said that there was “nothing new” in the American weapons supplied to Kyiv so far, adding that the Ukrainian forces already had “similar Soviet or Russian-made systems, such as Grads, Smertch or the Hurricanes”. The range of the projectiles “does not depend on the system itself, but on the missiles that are used”, Vladimir Putin continued.

“What we hear and understand today is that these are (for the American Himars) missiles with a range of 45 to 70 km,” he added. Vladimir Putin considered that Western arms deliveries to Ukraine had “only one objective: to prolong the armed conflict as long as possible”.

Russia also claimed to have destroyed armored vehicles supplied to Ukraine by Eastern European countries on Sunday in airstrikes on Kyiv, the first in several weeks. “High-precision, long-range missiles fired by the Russian Aerospace Forces at the outskirts of Kyiv destroyed T-72 tanks supplied by Eastern European countries and other armored vehicles that were in hangars said Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov.