Putin vows to strike harder if longer-range missiles supplied to Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday (June 5) vowed to strike harder if longer-range missiles were supplied to Ukraine.

Slamming the West for "prolonging the conflict," Putin boasted that Russian anti-aircraft forces have shot down dozens of Ukrainian weapons and are "cracking them like nuts."

Putin was quoted as saying in an excerpt of an interview with Rossiya-1 state television channel that if the United States started supplying Ukraine with longer-range missiles, "we will strike at those targets which we have not yet been hitting."

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"We understand that this supply (of advance rocket systems) from the United States and some other countries is meant to make up for the losses of this military equipment," Putin said.

"This is nothing new. It doesn't change anything in essence," he added.

Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said, "High-precision, long-range missiles fired by the Russian Aerospace Forces on the outskirts of Kyiv destroyed T-72 tanks supplied by eastern European countries and other armoured vehicles that were in hangars."

To strike troops and weapons stockpiles at the Russian forces' rear, Ukraine has been seeking Multiple Rocket Launch Systems (MLRS) such as the M270 and M142 HIMARS, which is a mobile unit that can simultaneously launch multiple precision-guided missiles up to 80 kilometres (50 miles) away.

After receiving assurances from Kyiv that it would not use them to hit targets inside Russia, US President Joe Biden announced plans this week to give Ukraine precision HIMARS rocket systems.

(With inputs from agencies)

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