Official “signals” – Washington refuses to heed the warnings…for now
US military strikes in Crimea promised by Kyiv threaten to escalate into full-scale war. Russia has repeatedly warned the US that its explicit involvement in opposing the Russian military operation in Ukraine brings it to the “brink” of conflict.
The United States intends to help “search and destroy” Russian artillery in Ukraine, while Washington has admitted that the weapons it supplies to Kyiv can be used on Crimean territory as “self-defense.”
US President Joe Biden on August 19 ordered a new $775 million military aid package for Ukraine. In addition to anti-tank systems and Javelin missiles for the HIMARS MLRS, ScanEagle drones will be sent for the first time. These UAVs are used for target detection and artillery guidance. The latest US aid package to Ukraine also includes AGM-88 high-speed anti-radar missiles.
“Search and Destroy: New US Aid to Ukraine Targets Russian Artillery. AGM-88 missiles will allow Ukrainian forces to target Russian radars during artillery engagements,” says a Defense News article.
He further states that when new ScanEagle reconnaissance drones arrive in the Armed Forces of Ukraine along with additional missiles, the Ukrainian army will be better able to combat Russian artillery units. However, he emphasized that “the supply of weapons did not greatly affect the course of the fighting. This did not happen even after the transfer of the HIMARS MLRS systems, which Kyiv often requested.”
After all this, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov pointed out that Moscow does not want the US to become one of the parties to the Ukrainian conflict, but that Washington refuses to listen to the warnings for now.
He added that Moscow has sent official messages to Washington, including in writing, in the form of a diplomatic note.
Ryabkov also pointed out that, as much as the US denies that it is not involved in decisions about the use of weapons, all this is refuted by life and statements, including on the Ukrainian side, which Russia also paid attention to.
The diplomat pointed to the demagogic suggestion by the West and the US that, especially when it comes to arms being supplied to the Kiev regime, this is done within the framework of “Ukraine’s right to self-defense.”
“Please, what kind of self-defense are we talking about if they are already talking openly about the possibility of attacking objects deep inside Russia, in Crimea? All this is an escalation of the conflict. It comes not only from the direct proposals of the US and other NATO allies, not only with the permission but also with the encouragement of such dispositions, approaches, plans, ideas directly from Washington”, he assessed.
If we are talking about those American long-range systems that have already been delivered to Ukraine (for example, Hymars multiple launch missile systems), then they do not reach the peninsula. Ordinary shells hit at a distance of 40-50 kilometers (although they believed 70).
But if the Ukrainians even try to hit with a special missile (and this is almost a tactical missile), then it will reach the target at a distance of 272 kilometers. But here too, it is not possible to reach Crimea, even from the Ukrainian point that is closest to the peninsula.
The Ukrainian “Tochka-U” has a range of 120 kilometers. It is not excluded for the sake of “hype” that they will hit Crimea from… the anti-aircraft missile system S-300. They have and the designers say that… this is in principle possible.
Another option, is a major attack on the peninsula by Ukrainian kamikaze fighters (say Su-24 all-weather, they still have such aircraft), or drone strikes.
Finally, the diplomat emphasized that Moscow does not want an “iron curtain”, but that the West is creating it and that this is a problem, however Russia will find a way to solve it.
“We, of course, do not want any new “iron curtain”, it is paradoxical that it is created by those who until today cannot imagine anything else, except the ideology of the neoliberal idea as the only one possible for the whole world. They deny the rest of the world, except those places, which live according to their rules. This is the problem. Russia is self-sufficient, we will find a way to solve the problem,” concluded Ryabkov.
