Putin has warned of ‘fatal consequences’ after a US-made weapon is believed to have been used by Ukraine for the first time
Vladimir Putin has sent out a clear warning to the West after the Ukrainian army were filmed using Western-made weapons for the first time.
Ukraine are believed to have struck a S-300 or S-400 air defence system using US-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS).
They were able to completely destroy the Russian weapons, with a video taken by a solider showing a huge fire blazing in a field in Belgorod close to the Ukrainian border.
The weapons systems was used by Moscow to deliver punishing missile strikes on Ukrainian cities, and to down any aerial threats they received.
Russian military blogger Evgeniy Poddubny said: ‘The enemy has begun using Western-made weapon systems to attack “old” Russian territory.’
This prompted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov to warn against the ongoing use of Western weapons.
‘I would like to warn American leaders against miscalculations that could have fatal consequences. For unknown reasons, they underestimate the seriousness of the rebuff they may receive,’ state news agency RIA quoted Ryabkov as saying.
Footage shows the first known use of US-supplied HIMARS missiles by Ukraine hitting a key military target inside Russia (Picture: Dosye Shpiona/e2w)
President Putin said last week Nato countries were playing with fire and risked a deeper global conflict.
‘I urge these figures (in the US)… to spend some of their time, which they apparently spend on some kind of video games, judging by the lightness of their approach, on studying what was said in detail by Putin,’ Ryabkov said.
Ukraine’s military claimed Putin’s army has suffered 1,370 casualties in the last 24 hours alone.
The UK’s Ministry of Defence confirmed Russia has lost 1,200 troops a day in May, totalling more than half a million since the start of the invasion in March 2022.
Quoting ancient Greek philosopher Socrates, they wrote on X: ‘When you want success as badly as you want the air, then you will get it. There is no other secret of success.
The High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) (Picture: AFP)
Admiral Sir Tony Radakin insists Russia wants to avoid direct conflict with the West because the Nato alliance is far too strong.
The situation is ‘a bit more dangerous’ today but there is still an ‘enormous overmatch’ between Nato and Russia, which is ‘failing’ in Ukraine, he explained.
Robots equipped with machine guns will be deployed to battle alongside soldiers, against Russia’s army, in what may seem like something from the realm of science fiction.
They will provide logistical support, battlefield reconnaissance, direct combat and even self-sacrifice in the most perilous missions.
The first robots were deployed in January 2024, marking the dawn of a new era in modern warfare.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.