Looks like Macron and other NATO leaders are really that stupid. They keep saying that they do not want a direct war with Russia but, they are inserting NATO forces into Ukraine. They are technically, advisers but, now reputed to be actually operating Patriot missile batteries. More NATO troops reported to have entered Ukraine. Russia forces will engage them and kill them. When they come home in body bags, NATO leaders will have a lot to explain. They are really pushing Putin to attack Europe. They should be very afraid if they saw what the Russians did to the Ukrainians in Avdiivka which is heavily fortified at that! Russia has only used a small portion of its firepower. They might just be waiting for the F-16s to come in.
Confirmed: Billion dollar patriots taken out by a cheap iskander missile. Forbes: A Russian Drone Spotted A Ukrainian Patriot Air-Defense Crew Convoying Near The Front Line. Soon, A Russian Hypersonic Missile Streaked Down. A Russian drone operator’s persistence and good fortune paid off on or right before Saturday, when they located—outside of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine—a Ukrainian convoy including, it seems, at least two truck-mounted quad-launchers for a Patriot surface-to-air missile battery. Responding more swiftly than usual, a Russian Iskander hypersonic surface-to-surface missile crew took aim—and scored a direct hit on the Ukrainian convoy from potentially hundreds of miles away. Two of the apparent Patriot launchers exploded, almost certainly killing their crews. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davida...n-a-russian-hypersonic-missile-streaked-down/
Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while. So after many long months, Russia has finally destroyed its first Patriot missile equipment. At a couple launchers every twelve months or so -- maybe they will destroy the rest before the year 2100.
From the same article: U.S. firm Raytheon is the sole builder of Patriot hardware... Ukraine or one of its allies could get in line to buy replacement launchers to replace the two the Russians just destroyed, but that purchase could take months if not years
So after 20 months of hunting, Russia finally destroyed one of the 39 HIMARS systems in Ukraine. Well Vlad, at 20 months each and 38 more systems to go -- it will take you until 2087 to remove the existing HIMARS in Ukraine.
Not to worry, Germany is already providing the replacement launchers. A Patriot missile battery consists of 5 to 8 launchers. Taking out two of them does not stop the other launchers in the battery from operating. Coupled with the reality that NATO is providing Ukraine and eastern European countries with a 1000 new Patriot missiles in 2024.
Don't worry about the billions, Russians will pay for it Brussels aims to fast track up to €3bn for Ukraine from frozen Russian assets First tranche of profits from Euroclear could be available as soon as July, if EU capitals approve