Putin: Russia will strike new targets if the US provides long-range missiles to Ukraine

President Vladimir Putin (right) gave an interview to Rossiya-1 channel on June 3 – Photo: REUTERS

“We will attack targets that we have never touched before,” state TV channel Rossiya-1 quoted Putin as saying in an interview on June 3. Interview content will be published on 5-6.

However, Reuters news agency said Putin did not specify the names of these “new targets” in the event that Washington supplies long-range missiles to Kiev.

Currently Ukraine is seeking aid from the US and the West with multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) such as the M270, and the high mobility missile system (HIMARS) M142 in the war against Russia. MLRS and HIMARS are two American long-range rocket launcher systems.

This week US President Joe Biden also announced that he would supply Ukraine with HIMARS rocket launchers, after receiving assurances from Ukraine that it would not use them to attack targets inside Russia.

Although Russian officials have repeatedly warned that the decision to provide Ukraine with advanced rocket systems could escalate the war, President Putin himself said that this would not bring about any fundamental change on the battlefield. .

“We understand that the supply (advanced rocket launchers) from the US and some countries is intended to make up for the loss of this weapon,” Putin said. What is the core change?

Ukraine’s capital Kiev today suffered a series of powerful explosions that shook the region from the first hours of June 5, but the number of casualties and damage to infrastructure is unknown.

The Kiev air raids take place in the context of Russia’s concentration of forces to control the city of Severodonetsk in the Lugansk province.

The incident shows that while focusing on the front in Donbass, Russia has not forgotten its objectives in Kiev, after withdrawing ground forces from northern Ukraine at the end of March.