We have destroyed the S-300 systems, Russia boasts. They are not ours, responds Slovakia – HNonline.sk

Russia’s defense ministry said on Monday that it had destroyed four launchers of the S-300 air defense system near Dnipro, one of European countries had supplied Ukraine. Ministry spokesman Igor Konašenkov did not specify exactly where the system should have come from. Speculation that it was a newly delivered Slovak system was immediately stopped by Prime Minister Eduard Heger (OĽaNO). “Russian propaganda is spreading lies that the S-300 defense system in Slovakia is destroyed. I want to point out that this is false information and the accompanying videos or photos are older. The Ukrainian side has also officially confirmed to us that this is misinformation, “the Slovak Prime Minister said on Facebook. He reacted to Sunday’s information from the Russian Ministry of Defense that Russian forces had destroyed the S-300 launcher at Starobohdanivka in the Mykolaiv region and at the Chuhuyiv military airport in the Kharkiv region. According to the TASS agency, Konashenkov announced on Monday that the destroyed equipment was hidden in a hangar and Russian strikes hit four S-300 launch systems as well as up to 25 members of the Ukrainian armed forces. Slovakia has donated its S-300 air defense system to Ukraine. Heger’s government has earned criticism from the opposition for it. However, both Prime Minister Heger and President Zuzana Čaputová alleviate that the country will not remain unprotected. The Slovak Armed Forces have the Patriot system, while its fourth battery is on the way. “By donating the S-300 defense system, we are helping to reduce the number of civilian victims of the tragic conflict in Ukraine, which is what everyone must be talking about at the moment. It is not a weapon that would threaten Russia and its territory. Other states supply tanks, drones, combat vehicles and have not become a Russian target. We do not become a defense system either. If Russia is interested in what we see today in Buč, Boroďanka, V Kramatorsk, then it is right that we helped defend Ukraine, “the president wrote. Heger then told criticized opposition leaders Robert Fico (Smer-SD) and Peter Pellegrini (Voice-SD) that they were acting “in the interests of Russia and supporting the defeat of Ukraine.” “Anyone who has seen the terrible massacre in front of the station in Kramatorsk knows what I’m talking about. This gentleman is not sorry for the victims, innocent civilians, women or children. They are not sorry for the tortured, destroyed destinies and destroyed homes, “he said. “They are demoralized people who have betrayed humanity, peace and democracy. They are a stain on the huge solidarity that Slovakia lives today and makes it morally better. Mr Fico, Mr Pellegrini, you have joined the throng of European extremists. Leave Slovak politics and go to the Russian one. You belong there, “he added. Moscow reports further success According to TASS, the Russian army also reports the shooting down of two Ukrainian Su-25 aircraft near the city of Izium, as well as the destruction of nine tanks, five Grad volley launchers and the killing of over 60 fighters in Donbas. Since the beginning of the “special military operation”, as Moscow calls the military invasion of Ukraine, the Russian army has reported, among other things, the destruction of 2,079 Ukrainian tanks and armored vehicles, 441 drones or 239 volley rocket launchers, 129 aircraft, 99 guns and mortars. Similar information provided by both warring parties cannot be independently verified. The Ukrainian side does not provide data on the losses of its armed forces and Moscow is also reluctant about the Russian army. However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov admitted last week in an interview with Sky News that Russia had suffered “significant losses” in Ukraine, although Moscow has so far officially confirmed “only” 1,351 fallen soldiers.