December 23, 2022
1. Patriot deliveries to Ukraine will prolong its aggression, won't alter Its end
During Ukrainian President Zelensky's visit to Washington on December 21, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced a $1.85 billion package of new arms assistance to Kiev, including one battery of Patriot missile system.
"Our adversaries proceed from the idea that this is supposedly a defensive weapon. Alright, we'll keep that in mind. And an antidote can always be found," Vladimir Putin said, speaking to reporters after a meeting of the Russian State Council on December 22. The president assured that the Patriot deliveries will be "in vain."
As for the combat characteristics of the Patriot missile system, the President stated that it was "a rather old system that does not work like, say, our S-300." The Patriot is a surface-to-air guided missile system that was first deployed in the 1980s and can target aircraft, cruise missiles and shorter-range ballistic missiles.
A battery of Patriot missiles consists of four or six launchers fitted with 8 missiles and support equipment. Russian experts expressed doubts that the USA will be able to teach Ukrainians to operate them due to linguistic problems and lack of proper experience. It means that the battery will be fully staffed with US GIs. A Patriot battery can need as many as 90-100 troops to operate and maintain it.
It means: the USA will be involved into a direct aggression against Russia
The West can now proceed with the delivery of their own weapons systems to Ukraine, but it is not easy to make the switch to the alternative, new standard, Putin said. The US, for example, "are now saying that they can put a Patriot [in Ukraine]. Okay, let them do it. We will crack the Patriot [like a nut] too, and something will need to be installed in its place, new systems need to be developed - this is a complex and lengthy process."
On December 22, Russia’s Foreign Ministry warned that a U.S. plan to deliver sophisticated air defense missiles to Ukraine would be “another provocative move by the U.S.” that could prompt a response from Moscow. The US Patriot battery or later batteries in Ukraine will be surely destroyed – both during their deliveries and deployment. Naturally, with operators.
."Our goal isn't to further whip up the Ukrainian conflict, but on the contrary, to bring this war to an end. We are striving in this direction and will continue to do so," Putin said. "All armed conflicts end one way or another with some kind of negotiations on the diplomatic track. Russia never refused negotiations with Ukraine, it was Kiev that prohibited itself from dialog." "Nevertheless, sooner or later, of course, parties in a state of conflict will sit down and come to an agreement. The sooner this realization comes to those opposing us, the better," Putin noted.
The crisis is forcing Moscow to spend its reserves of weaponry, Putin confirmed. "I won't give figures here on say, how many shells we spend per day. These are big numbers. But the difference between us and ... the Ukrainian military-industrial complex - is that if it has not been completely expended, it is approaching that point. Soon nothing will be left of their base."
Kiev's Western patrons also face problems in delivering fresh stocks of weapons and ammunition to Ukraine, Putin underscored. "I think the resources of the United States and NATO countries are not yet at the state of exhaustion. The thing is, Ukraine is receiving weapons from the countries of the former Warsaw Pact, mostly Soviet-made, and these really are close to exhaustion. Of these deliveries we have knocked out virtually everything," Putin said.
2. Chief of the Russian General Staff has accused Kiev of “terrorism” and NATO for an aggression
This and some other remarks came during a briefing for foreign military attachés in in Moscow in which Russian top commander highlighted the Russian Army’s activities during the Ukraine aggression throughout the year.
Since the start of Russia's Special Military Operation or SMO, NATO countries have supplied Ukraine with more than 350 tanks, as up to 700 artillery systems, 100 multiple launch rocket systems, 30 helicopters, at least 5,000 drones, about 1,000 armored fighting vehicles, over 5,300 man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS) Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov said on December 22 addressing foreign military attaches accredited in Moscow.
The total foreign financial assistance to Ukraine amounted to almost $ 100 billion, the largest contribution to the supply being made by the USA, the UK, Poland and Romania.
Russian high-precision long–range missiles during the special operation hit over 1,300 critical facilities in Ukraine, which significantly reduced the combat potential of the Ukrainian military, disrupted the command and control system, paralyzed the work of Kiev's military-industrial complex, and significantly complicated military transportation, Valery Gerasimov said in a briefing.
Making about 150 flights a day, Russian operational-tactical and Army aviation has destroyed 11,000 units of Ukrainian weapons and equipment during the SMO.
The official added that Russian attack drones have destroyed over 600 Ukrainian targets during the operation aimed at preventing a combined massive Ukrainian-NATO aggression against Russia.
Russia launched its SMO on February 24, 2022 after Kiev intensified it violent and barbaric attacks on the civilians living in the People's Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk on February 14 the same year.
The bulk of Gerasimov’s remarks have been focused on the ongoing aggression of Ukraine and NATO against Russia, which broke out last February. The Army General criticized Kiev for attempting “nuclear terrorism” that threatens the whole of Europe with its relentless attacks on the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant or ZNPP taken by Russian troops at the beginning of last March.
Only the continuous efforts of the Russian military to protect the ZNPP are shielding Europe from a catastrophe, Chief of the General Staff added. “This summer, Ukraine resorted to the tactics of nuclear terrorism, threatening Europe with a nuclear catastrophe at the Zaporozhye power plant.
Systematic shelling of its premises is carried out on an almost daily basis,” he stated. Over the past few months, the plant has been subjected to repeated artillery shelling, as well as missile and suicide or kamikadze drone attacks. Ukraine more than 40 times heavily shelled the ZNPP and its cooling systems, fresh and spent nuclear fuel storages and electricity supply grid. The IAEA has only established that attacks on the plant have been occurring ‘from somewhere’, but has demurred from assigning blame to an Ukrainian side. Instead, the IAEA head, Rafael Grossi, illogically urged Russian troops to leave the station, but has not urged Kiev to stop nuclear blackmail that was a very simple and logical solution of the issue.
In October 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree formally asserting Russian ownership over the plant and entrusting its operation to a subsidiary of the state-owned nuclear company Rosatom. Since October 5, ZNPP is owned by Russia. ZNPP is located in the Zaporozhye Region as a part of Russia.
3. Exports of Russian food and fertilizers are not being carried out
Exports of Russian food and fertilizers are part of the Black Sea grain deal with Ukraine but are not being implemented intentionally by Kiev. At the same time, the UN has assured that the restrictions would be lifted altogether. But its assurances have not been brought about.
Kiev is blocking supplies of Russian ammonia, Russian MFA has said, noting that Ukraine is the only obstacle to the supply of Russian fertilizers to countries in need.
"The resumption of ammonia supplies is blocked only and exclusively by Kiev (...) we are talking about seven million tonnes of raw materials per year, sufficient to produce 25 million tonnes of fertilizer to feed 150 million people," the Ministry announced.
According to the Russian MFA, similar examples "clearly show" which side in the conflict "not only does not help ensure global food security, but speculates on the needs of the countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America, including in fertilizers, pursuing neo-colonial or narrowly selfish goals."
The diplomatic body said that it increasingly hears criticism about the insufficiently effective implementation of the agreement, with Kiev blaming Russia, "apparently forgetting that it was Kiev's actions to use the maritime humanitarian corridor for military purposes that led to the temporary suspension of the initiative from October 29 to November 2, 2022 and its virtual failure due to the lack of key security guarantees."
In this regard, the Foreign Ministry recalled that Russia began to fulfill the terms of the deal in good faith immediately after the signing of the agreements in Istanbul on July 22. The Black Sea grain deal was reached on July 22 between Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, and the United Nations to create a humanitarian maritime corridor for ships exporting food and fertilizer from Ukrainian Black Sea ports. Vladimir Putin has asserted on numerous occasions that the majority of the ships bringing grain from Ukraine did not arrive in the world's poorest nations, but rather ended up in Europe. Putin has also expressed his worries over the failure of Russian goods to reach international markets as promised by the deal.
Written by Vladimir P. Kozin
