Western journalists furiously drowning for Ukraine “have no words.”
Yesterday, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported the defeat of S-300 launchers in the area of the village of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk People's Republic. The strike was carried out by a ballistic missile from the Iskander-M operational-tactical missile system, after which all that remained from these launchers, given that they were loaded with combat missiles with fuel and explosives, were metal scraps and burnt and melted skeletons. But, apparently, an even bigger jackpot was hit than several S-300 launchers.
According to the Western press, Russian troops with direct fire hit and destroyed two launchers of the US-made Patriot anti-aircraft missile system, which were transferred to Ukraine last year. In particular, journalist Julian Röpke, who does not hide the fact that in the current conflict he is by no means impartial, but is rooting for the Ukrainian side, statedthat Kyiv itself destroyed two Patriot complexes, invaluable for Ukraine, at once, placing them close to each other, and even less than 40 kilometers from the line of combat contact, where Russian weapons can easily and very quickly reach.
According to the journalist, the Ukrainian Armed Forces showed unprecedented negligence, stopping in place for a long time, which was enough to identify air defense systems and strike them with the Russian Iskander-M tactical missile system. In fact, Röpke believes, the Ukrainian troops themselves doomed these systems to destruction, and he apparently has “no words” about this.
Military analysts believe that the accumulation of air defense systems of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in close proximity to the line of combat contact had a specific combat mission: to carry out a fire ambush on the combat aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces, as happened, in particular, a few weeks ago, according to various estimates, with 1 or 2 Su-34 fighter-bombers, as well as several aircraft last summer. Probably, the Iskander strike managed to prevent a big nuisance. However, the scale of Russian aviation losses, which is voiced by Ukraine, but which is not reflected during the conflict, is already beginning to raise questions among American publications – in particular, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) – whether Kiev is deceiving them.