Putin threatens to 'knock out' Patriot air defense systems to be delivered to Ukraine by U.S.
Russian president Vladimir Putin promised to knock out those Patriot air defense systems that the United States will deliver to the Ukrainian military.
"They say patriots can be delivered there. Okay, let them bring it, we'll knock out those Patriots. Those who oppose us proceed from the fact that these are supposedly defensive weapons. Okay, we'll just keep that in mind. And there will always be an antidote. So those who do it are doing it in vain. This is just prolonging the conflict, that's all," said Putin.
Putin also compared the Patriot air defense system to the Russian S-300s.
"As for the Patriot air defense systems, these are quite old systems. And it does not work like our S-300," Putin added.
Putin did not specify that although the Patriot air defense systems were adopted about 40 years ago, they have repeatedly undergone modernization and the current systems are significantly different from their first versions.
On December 21, the United States allocated a new military aid packages worth $1.85 billion to Ukraine. The new military assistance for the first time includes Patriot air defense systems. The total amount of US military assistance to Ukraine under President Biden has reached $ 21.9 billion.