Ukrainian officer captured by Russia declares US Javelin missile ‘useless’

The US-made Javelin anti-tank systems have been praised by Washington officials for their effectiveness and turned into a symbol of Ukrainian resistance in the conflict with Russia by the Western media.

However, a commanding officer of the Ukrainian marines, who was captured by Russia during the battle for Mariupol, revealed to RT that the Javelin missile is not really what the US and the West claim.

Specifically, Colonel Vladimir Baranyuk, commander of Ukraine’s 36th Naval Infantry Brigade said: “Javelins have not proved useful, especially in urban warfare. We couldn’t even start one. I think it is completely useless in an urban environment, because there is always something in the way,” explained Colonel Baranyuk.

Baranyuk’s unit is also equipped with next-generation Light Anti-Tank Weapons (NLAW) supplied by the UK, but they also have flaws, the Ukrainian officer stressed.

“As for the NLAW rocket launchers, we use them more often than Javelin, but it also has its own problems like it will run out of battery in cold conditions. In this case, Ukrainian forces were also unable to launch the NLAW.

The shoulder-launched Javelin missile is equipped with infrared guidance and is said to use a “peak strike” trajectory to hit the top of the tank, where it is most vulnerable.

Like the NLAW, they are self-guided missiles for their target.

More than 5,000 Javelins missiles have been supplied to Kiev by Washington. Republican Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri said last week that the US missile supplies to Ukraine represent a third of the US stockpile of those systems. For its part, London has equipped the Ukrainian army with more than 4,000 NLAW and other anti-tank missiles.

“Javelin… has proven to be very, very effective in this fight,” US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in April, referring to the conflict in Ukraine.

US President Joe Biden earlier this week even boasted that Ukrainian parents are naming their newborn babies “Javelin or Javelina” in honor of American anti-tank missiles!

Colonel Baranyuk and his marines have been tasked with protecting the northern suburbs of Mariupol, a strategic port city in the southeast of Ukraine, from Russian forces.

Colonel Baranyuk was captured by Russian forces while attempting to flee the city. The colonel said he tried to escape Mariupol with some loyalists after realizing that Kiev’s promises to send reinforcements were lies.

According to RT, Mariupol is the site of the heaviest fighting of the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and has been devastated.

The city is now almost completely controlled by the Russian army. Currently in Mariupol only the Azovstal steel plant – where Kiev soldiers and nationalist fighters of the infamous Azov Battalion are concentrated – is the last refuge of the Ukrainian resistance.