The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a warning on Thursday, saying that if allegations of an American intention to send powerful air defense missiles to Ukraine are true, it would be “another aggressive move by the U.S.,” which would elicit retaliation from Moscow.
Following news that the United States would send Kyiv Patriot surface-to-air missiles, the most advanced the West has yet sent to aid Ukraine’s military fend off Russian aerial assaults, ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova declared during a weekly briefing on Thursday that “the U.S. has effectively become a party” to the war in Ukraine.
Additional U.S. military aid, including the deployment of such advanced weapons, according to Zakharova, “would indicate even larger involvement of military people in the battles and might have potential implications.” She didn’t say what the repercussions might be.
According to U.S. officials, Washington was ready to approve the deployment of a Patriot missile battery to Ukraine, finally granting the urgent request of Ukrainian leaders who were in need of more powerful weapons to shoot down incoming Russian missiles that had severely damaged much of their vital infrastructure. Soon, a formal announcement is anticipated.
It can take up to 90 people to operate and maintain a Patriot battery, and for months the US had been unwilling to supply the sophisticated system because President Joe Biden’s administration would not support sending troops into Ukraine to do so.
However, there are still worries that even without American service members to instruct Ukrainians on how to use the system, the deployment of the missiles might irritate Russia or increase the likelihood that a launched projectile could land within Russia, exacerbating the conflict.
Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, which is presided over by President Vladimir Putin, issued a warning before news of the delivery of Patriot systems even broke. He said that if Patriots enter Ukraine “along with NATO personnel, they will immediately become a legitimate target for our armed forces.”
When asked on Wednesday if the Kremlin supports that threat, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov replied in the affirmative. However, he added that he would hold off on making any more comments until the U.S. formally announces the Patriot supply to Ukraine.
Patriot missiles have been under discussion for some time, according to White House and Pentagon officials, and equipping Ukraine with more air defenses is a top priority. According to officials, this aspect became more important as winter approached and the Russian shelling of facilities used by civilians grew.
According to Ukraine’s electricity supplier, the country’s energy system is experiencing a “severe shortfall of electricity,” and emergency shutdowns have been implemented in several regions due to the country’s persistently subfreezing temperatures.
In a Facebook post, the state-owned grid operator Ukrenergo issued a warning that severe weather, such as snow, ice, and strong winds, is aggravating the damage Russian attacks have already done to electricity infrastructure.
Going into the weekend, Kyiv’s maximum temperatures were only projected to barely rise above freezing, and further colder weather was predicted for early next week.
The southern Ukrainian city of Kherson was without electricity as a result of Russian shelling on Thursday, according to Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy director of the Ukrainian president’s office, who also noted that two people were known to have died in the attacks.
Around 1 p.m. local time, heavy shelling of a crucial infrastructure site in the city’s Korabelny neighborhood was still going on, and Russian rounds had struck within 100 yards of the regional administration building, according to him.
According to a report from the Ukrainian president’s office on Thursday, seven civilians were murdered and an additional 19 were injured as Russian assaults on civilian infrastructure continued to disrupt power across the nation on Wednesday and Thursday.
Pavlo Kyrylenko, the governor of Ukraine’s eastern region of Donetsk, announced on Thursday that seven people had also been hurt and two people had died as a result of Russian airstrikes the day before.
Authorities in the area, which Moscow illegally annexed in September, declared that Russia had taken control of 80% of Marinka, which is important for Ukrainian ambitions of regaining control of the region’s capital, Donetsk.
Fighting is still going on in high-rise buildings, according to Denis Pushilin, the interim regional leader who was installed in Moscow.
Two airstrikes occurred overnight on Wednesday in Avdiivka, some 10 kilometers (6 miles) north of the city of Donetsk, which is under Russian control, while rocket fire hit a residential neighborhood early on Thursday. Three homes were destroyed, by sporadic artillery bombardment in Vuhledar, a city southwest of Donetsk. Kurakhove, a city as well as two settlements west of Donetsk were attacked by gunfire, and one home was damaged.
