“War never comes on holidays. War does not celebrate Christmas,” Ukrainian Defense Ministry representative Yury Sak told Fox Digital about the possibility of a ceasefire before Ukraine celebrates Christmas on January 7.
“Think of the worst behavior you can imagine and multiply that by five, and you get an idea of what the Russians are capable of — nothing would surprise me,” Sack said.
On Monday, Russian troops began a series drone attacks which demolished power plants and other electrical facilities in the Kyiv region, despite the fact that the Ukrainian army shot down most of the drones from the air defense system.
A view of the dark streets of Kyiv, Ukraine, December 17, 2022.
(Maxim Marusenko/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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The battlefield in Ukraine has moved into the air — the Ukrainian military is asking the international community for more missiles and rockets to combat Russian drone strikes that crippled the nation’s sources of strength and left millions of Ukrainian civilians in the dark.
“If we get systems and missiles that allow us to strike, we’re going even further beyond enemy lines,” Sack said. “This will of course mean that their ability to terrorize our people and our cities will be further reduced. And that will create the space we need for our counterattack.”
Ukrainian soldiers fire from the Pion artillery system at Russian positions near Bakhmut, Donetsk region of Ukraine, on December 16, 2022.
(AP Photo/LIBKOS)
Now there are renewed fears that Russia may strike from Belarus, where the Russian military launched its first attack on Kyiv in February.
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Belarus and met with President Alexander Lukashenko This was reported by the Russian state news agency TASS on Monday.
(Mikhail Klimentiev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
“Belarus is not just our good neighbor with whom we work, taking into account each other’s interests for the past decades,” Putin said. “But Belarus is definitely our ally in the truest sense of the word.”
Over the past few months, Russia has maintained close relations with Belarus, which has supplied Russian troops with missiles and equipment. The Russian military also has up to 15,000 troops in Belarus.
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“It’s only a matter of if, not when,” Luke Coffey, a senior fellow on foreign policy at the Hudson Institute, said of the attack from Belarus on Fox News Live. “There are two main scenarios: you see another attack on the capital Kyiv … or we could see forces from Belarus moving into western Ukraine to disrupt the supply lines that NATO and the US use from Poland.”
The Pentagon is considering a plan to send the Patriot missile defense system to Ukraine. Military contractor Raytheon Technologies Corp. told Fox News that the package would contain “manned and unmanned aerial vehicles, cruise and tactical ballistic missiles.”
“Thus, when we ask our partners, and primarily the United States, for example, to provide Ukraine with ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System) missiles, we need them not to strike Russia on its own territory. We need them to carry out our military operations. with less risk to our own military,” Sack said.
The Patriot missile program reportedly does not contain them Army Missile Tactical Missile Complex (ATACMS)., which have a range of 185 miles. However, the package contains missiles with a range of 100 miles, which the Kremlin calls a “provocative move by the US.”
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National Security Council spokesman John Kirby hit back at the Kremlin’s comments last week, saying “it’s focused on defense — it’s about helping them protect themselves.”
Despite discussions with the Pentagon and the White House, the Patriot program for Ukraine has not been finalized, but sources tell Fox News that an announcement is expected this week.
(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
Despite discussions with the Pentagon and the White House, the Patriot program is not complete — but sources are tell Fox News that an announcement is expected this week.
“You know, there is talk that Ukraine will get Patriot air defense systems from the US… Now we know that Russia is negotiating with Iran to buy more ballistic missiles from Iran. So it’s a race that we have to be one step ahead of,” Sack said.
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Nana Sajaya contributed to this report.
