The Leopards are Burning
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Russian President Vladimir Putin at the SPIEF 23 said German Leopards are burning and so will NATO F-16s if they are deployed
Any F-16 fighters the West sends to Kiev will be destroyed just like the tanks they have already delivered, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday. In case they are based outside of Ukraine, that may lead to open war with NATO, he added.
A Ukrainian Leopard 2 tank and several Bradley fighting vehicles destroyed by the Russian forces in Russia’s Zaporozhye Region. © Russia’s Defense Ministry
Speaking at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), Putin described how the much-heralded Ukrainian offensive, using Western heavy equipment delivered for the purpose, was actually going.
“Tanks are burning. Among them are the Leopards. They burn. So will the F-16s. There is no doubt,” the Russian president said.
“Their losses are very heavy – about more than one in ten compared to the Russian army. That is a fact. In terms of hardware, every day there is an increase in the loss of this materiel. To date, 186 tanks have been lost by the Ukrainian army and 418 armored vehicles,” Putin claimed, referring to the ongoing operation by Ukrainian forces.
Kiev has repeatedly demanded F-16s from the US and its allies. Ukrainian pilots are already being trained on the fourth-generation jets, though none have yet been delivered. The US-made fighter requires very specific airfield conditions, however, which Ukraine may not be able to provide.
A Russian servicemen of a mobile anti-aircraft unit sits by a DShK machine gun loaded on a UAZ truck as he is on combat duty for repelling attacks of Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles. © Sputnik / Konstantin Mihalchevskiy
In case Kiev gets some F-16s and stations them at bases outside Ukraine, “we will need to look at how and where we can hit those assets used in combat operations against us,” Putin said at SPIEF. “This is a serious danger of further dragging NATO into this armed conflict.”
Speaking to NBC News, on Thursday Vladimir Zelensky said Ukrainian troops “are facing very tough resistance” and claimed that “for Russia to lose this campaign to Ukraine… actually means losing the war.”
On Friday, the Russian Ministry of Defence in its daily briefing said Ukraine has lost hundreds of troops in a series of unsuccessful attacks on two sections of the front line in the last 24 hours.
The ministry said Kiev’s forces had gone on the offensive in two directions, with battles taking place near the so-called Vremevsky ledge in the southern section of the front, and west of the Russian city of Donetsk.
In the first area, the most intense fighting took place near the settlements of Rovnopol and Urozhaynoye, with Russian troops repelling five Ukrainian attacks. As a result, Kiev lost more than 200 service members, five tanks, seven armored personnel vehicles, and other hardware, according to officials in Moscow.
Russian troops repelled another five attacks near the settlements of Pervomayskoye, Petrovskoye and Staromichailovka, all located west and north-west of Donetsk, the ministry added. It estimated Ukrainian losses in the area at up to 215 service members, three armored and five other vehicles, as well as two artillery pieces.
Moscow has repeatedly warned NATO that sending weapons to Kiev only prolongs the conflict and risks open confrontation. The US and its allies insist they are not a party to the hostilities, but only supplying Ukraine with money, weapons, ammunition, equipment, intelligence and advice in order to “defeat Russia.”
Though the F-16s do not pose a serious challenge to the Russian air force, Moscow has raised concerns with the UN Security Council over their possible deployment because the planes are capable of carrying tactical nuclear bombs. Earlier this month, one influential US think-tank advocated giving such weapons to Ukraine.
Ukraine launched a large-scale counteroffensive on June 4, after the West and Kiev had talked up the operation for several months. A CNN report, which cited two senior US officials said that Ukraine has encountered heavier pushback than expected from Moscow’s forces.
Source CNN/Reuters/TASS/RT
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