Scott Ritter: Ukraine an 'Open Target for Russia to Take Apart'
No matter how many and what kind of air defense systems NATO plans to donate to the Kiev regime, Russia will continue to pursue its military objectives while grinding through those weapons, underscored Scott Ritter. Fueling the ongoing proxy war in Ukraine will leave the West facing depleted stocks of its own air defense systems.
Russia is able to wipe out the military equipment provided to the Kiev regime, especially air defense, at a rate "far greater than the West can even replenish its own stocks," former US marine intelligence officer Scott Ritter told Sputnik.
“This is a losing equation. And without air defense, Ukraine is literally an open target for Russia to take apart as it best sees fit,” said Ritter.
On the opening day of the recent NATO summit in Washington, US President Joe Biden pledged to provide Ukraine with five new strategic air defense systems and dozens of smaller, strategic anti-air batteries over the coming year. In remarks delivered at the opening of the summit, Biden said that to donate the Patriot systems, the US would join forces with Germany, Romania, Italy, and the Netherlands.
The announcement came two days after a missile strike hit a children's hospital in Kiev, with the Zelensky-led neo-Nazi regime and its Western allies groundlessly accusing Russia of targeting the building.
Photographs and videos taken in Kiev confirm that a building on the grounds of the Okhmatdet hospital was hit by a surface-to-air missile fired from the Western-made NASAMS air defense system during a Russian attack on military targets in Kiev, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense. The ministry linked the Kiev regime's accusations to the then-upcoming NATO summit set to discuss Ukraine's potential membership among other issues, and new arms deliveries to Kiev.