Ukraine: Putin threatens to target new targets if long-range missiles are supplied to Kyiv

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on 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”, Vladimir Putin said, quoted by Russian news agencies. He did not specify which targets might be affected.

Ukraine assured this Sunday that its forces controlled the “half” of Severodonetsk, a key city in the east of its territory and the current epicenter of fierce fighting in the vast coal region of Donbas.

“Our armed forces have cleared half” of this industrial center of Russian troops who were there, said the governor of the Lugansk region, Sergey Gaidai, in an interview broadcast on social networks. “Half the city is under the control of our defenders,” he added.

Ukraine needs ‘constant’ military support from Western countries, not ‘one-off’ aid until it wins against Moscow’s forces, its deputy defense minister said on Sunday. , Ganna Malyar.

“We have already entered a protracted war and we will need constant support. The West must understand that its aid cannot be one-off but must continue until we win,” Ganna Malyar told local media.

Ukraine is awaiting deliveries of more powerful missile systems promised by US President Joe Biden, hoping that this will change the balance of power against Russia in the east of the country.

The United States announced Wednesday the dispatch to Ukraine of four Himars systems (multiple rocket launchers mounted on light armor), 1,000 additional Javelin anti-tank missiles and four Mi-17 helicopters as part of a new military aid package.