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How to protect Kharkiv and why the Patriot system won't help
In recent months, Kharkiv
has been constantly shelled with ballistic missiles, especially the S-300 and
S-400s, which the Russians have a lot of. Many Kharkiv residents ask why Kyiv
is covered, and Kharkiv is not. How can Kharkiv be protected?
There is only one option.
This decision should have been made long ago to clear the 150-200 kilometer
zone around Kharkiv. Then, Kharkiv residents will be able to exhale, so to
speak. After we control the Russian territory to a depth of 150-200 kilometers,
it will be possible to deploy a more reliable air defense system in Kharkiv,
which the Russians will not be able to reach. This is a comprehensive approach.
You can't just deploy a
Patriot in the Kharkiv area. It will be destroyed immediately. It will be
destroyed immediately using a swarm of smaller numbers of less advanced
rockets. In the end, they will gather all the S-300s in one place, about 5,000
missiles, and throw them at Kharkiv in search of the Patriot. It will be a gift
for them in a sense. And Patriot will not be able to cover Kharkiv in this
case.
That is why it is optimal
that we finally start doing this when the second year of the war is closing. We
have started working on the S-300 launch sites. This is the best option at the
moment. The main problem facing Kharkiv is the S-300, which has a launch range
of just over 100 kilometers. By and large, we need to find them and get them
with long-range weapons.
How does this work manifest
itself now? On January 2nd, it was in Belgorod. There is an airfield north of
Belgorod from which the Russians launch S-300s. They launch the S-300 from
north to south, and it takes 40 seconds for the missile to reach Kharkiv.
Naturally, it crosses over Belgorod city while doing so. But our military and
political leadership was afraid to work on this airfield. I don't know why. We
should have started working immediately, two years ago. We can cover the 70
kilometers there. We have the same Smerch MLRS, the same Vilkha. We need to
procure Smerchs worldwide. They are still available. With a 70-kilometer
Smerch, you can burn out this airfield. Wherever an S-300 appears that can hit
Kharkiv, it should be eliminated. We have a real opportunity.
We can cover and move with
Smerch or Vilkha launchers. It's the same launcher, the same 12 tubes. The
difference is that Vilkhas are guided, and Smerch missiles are not.
Therefore, we need to forget
about Belgorod. Now, the civilians of Belgorod are well aware that they are
being used as a cover. They are in the crossfire and must leave.
There are no other options.
We cannot allow missiles to fly to Kharkiv. It is necessary to destroy these
launchers. Naturally, all the counter-fire will go mainly to the north of
Belgorod. Some of them will crash and fall on the city itself. The Russians
themselves are bringing this situation to this point.
I repeat once again: we
should have started this a year and a half or two years ago. We need to clear
the launch sites. It doesn't matter what the Russians are hiding behind. These
are their problems. These are the problems of the Russian military and political
leadership. They have to evict their citizens if they decide to locate launch
sites outside of Belgorod. The military is well aware that they will destroy
these points. So, they are surely mindful of what they are doing with Belgorod.
This is what Putin has been
saying since 2014. You'll remember when he said that women with children would
be marching with Russian troops behind them. They are doing something similar
now. They are launching missiles at Kharkiv, hiding behind Belgorod, and
naturally causing return fire. We will fight back because we have lost too many
people. Too many. Now, no one will look at all these cover-ups anymore. The
world already understands perfectly well that Putin is using his Russian people
as a cover.
Russia will do to Belgorod
what they did to Bakhmut or Mariinka, either through their missiles landing on
the city or using it to absorb our missiles to protect their own. Therefore,
civilians should leave the city. There are no mechanisms to take cover from
missiles in one direction or the other.
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