Seven new towers equipped with "Pantsir" systems have been built around Putin’s residence in Valdai, — media. PHOTOS
Seven new towers equipped with Pantsir air defence systems have been built around Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s residence in Valdai, bringing the total to 27.
According to Censor.NET, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports this based on an analysis of satellite images from Planet.com.
What is known
It is noted that construction of the seven towers began simultaneously on 17 March – on that day, the Russian Ministry of Defence reported the downing of four Ukrainian UAVs over the Leningrad region, out of a total of 206.
It is reported that some of the new towers have already been equipped with anti-aircraft missile systems.
The air defence system around the residence is arranged in two rings of different radii, similar to the defence system around Moscow.
What preceded
- It was previously reported that 12 air defence positions had been set up around Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s residence in Valdai. These are predominantly "Pantsir-S1" systems.
- As a reminder, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that Ukraine had struck Putin’s residence in the Novgorod region of the Russian Federation with drones on the night of 29 December. According to him, the Russian Federation is already preparing a retaliatory strike, and the country will review its negotiating position.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy subsequently denied reports of an alleged Ukrainian strike on Putin’s state residence.
- US President Donald Trump said that this information had caused him "great outrage" and described a possible attack as "ill-timed" in the current circumstances.
- The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry noted that Russia has yet to provide any evidence of the attack.
- The Kremlin believes that no evidence is required.
- Putin’s office also stated that Russia’s stance on Ukraine would become tougher following the "attack".
