Putin vows to destroy US patriot missile systems sent to Ukraine

Putin vows to destroy US patriot missile systems sent to Ukraine: Russian president says he is ‘100% sure’ his forces can ‘weed out’ $6m anti-aircraft system

• Vladimir Putin vowed to destroy US patriot missiles, ‘100 per cent,’ he said
• Yesterday he appeared unfazed when asked about the US air defence system 
• The Kremlin leader said of missiles: ‘Let them do it, we will weed out the Patriots’ 

Vladimir Putin has vowed to destroy US patriot missile systems that are sent to Ukraine, saying he is ‘100% sure’ his forces can ‘weed out’ the six million dollar anti-aircraft system.

In a speech yesterday he appeared unfazed when asked about the new air defence system the United States will deliver to Ukraine.

‘Of course we will destroy it, 100 percent!’ Putin said, referring to the Patriot missile battery promised to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

According to the Kremlin website, the Russian president said, ‘It is said that the Patriot systems may be sent to Ukraine. Let them do it; we will weed out the Patriots too.’

Vladimir Putin has vowed to destroy US patriot missile systems that are sent to Ukraine, saying he is ‘100% sure’ his forces can ‘weed out’ the $6million anti-aircraft system

In a speech yesterday he appeared unfazed when asked about the new air defence system the United States will deliver to Ukraine (File photo of US patriot missile systems)

Putin accused his country’s ‘geopolitical opponents (of) aiming to tear apart Russia, the historical Russia’.

He has used the concept of ‘historical Russia’ to argue that Ukrainians and Russians are one people – undermining Kyiv’s sovereignty and justifying his 10-month offensive in Ukraine.

‘Divide and conquer, that’s what they have always sought to accomplish and are still seeking to do,’ Putin said in an interview.

‘But our goal is different: it’s to unite the Russian people.’

Putin declared his government was acting ‘in the right direction… protecting our national interests, the interests of our citizens, of our people’.

The Kremlin leader blasted the West for trying to ‘tear apart’ Russia and said in an interview aired on national television that his offensive in Ukraine aimed to ‘unite the Russian people’.

About 100 kilometres from the Ukrainian border, Russian air defence troops shot down a Ukrainian drone early Monday as it approached a Russian airbase, with the debris killing three, news agencies reported.

Vladimir Putin pictured on Friday. The Russian leader  added in his comments about Ukraine, which were broadcast on Christmas day, that ‘it’s not us who refuse talks, it’s them’ – a statement he has repeatedly made

‘As a result of the fall of the wreckage of the drone, three Russian technical servicemen who were at the (Engels military) airfield were fatally injured,’ the defence ministry announced, according to TASS news agency.

Putin’s remarks come as Russia’s relentless assault on Ukraine continues. 

A country-wide air raid alert was announced twice on Sunday alone, and three missiles hit throughout the afternoon in the city of Kramatorsk in the partially occupied Donetsk region, according to local officials.

More than 100,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in Ukraine and half of Russian tanks destroyed, with stockpiles of shells, missiles and ammunition also depleted.

Meanwhile, Kyiv has said it will not rest until every Russian soldier is ejected from all of its territory.

Last night Foreign Minister Kuleba said Russia had lost its claim to a permanent Security Council seat.

‘We have a very simple question: Does Russia have the right to remain a permanent member of the UN Security Council and to be in the United Nations at all?’ he said.

‘We have a convincing and reasoned answer – no, it does not,’ he continued, adding that the issue had been raised in diplomatic circles at the ‘lower level’.

This photograph taken on December 25, 2022, shows Sviatohirsk Cave Monastery, ‘an Orthodox Christian monastery’, partially damaged by shelling in the town of Sviatohirsk, in Donetsk region

The powerful 15-seat Security Council has five permanent members – Russia, the United States, Britain, France and China – who carry veto power that can block any resolution.

Zelensky last week earned firm pledges of support from Biden during his first trip out of Ukraine since the conflict began – including the Pentagon’s most advanced air defence system.

Western military and financial aid has been crucial for Ukraine’s pushback of Russian troops – including from Kherson, the only regional capital that was held by Russia.

Despite Russia’s retreat from the city, it remains within reach of Moscow’s weaponry and under constant threat.

The Ukrainian army counted 71 strikes on the partly recaptured Kherson region on Saturday, including 41 on the city.

This included deadly shelling on a busy market in the city centre that left 10 people dead and 55 wounded.

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