Russia has ‘people to talk to’ in Ukraine – Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin has dared the US to supply its THAAD long-range air defense system to Ukraine, claiming that Moscow has sources in Ukraine to inquire about the classified technology behind it.

The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system was touted by some military experts as a capability that could counter Russia’s new Oreshnik hypersonic ballistic missile. Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky reportedly reiterated calls for the US to provide it to Kiev after Russia demonstrated the new weapon by firing it at a Ukrainian military facility in November.

During his annual marathon Q&A session on Thursday, Putin said he doubted that the THAAD could defeat the Oreshnik. It is comparable in capabilities with Russia’s S-400 system but is inferior in some regards, according to his assessment.

“Let them supply it [to Kiev]. We’ll ask our guys in Ukraine whether they would give us a hint about modern design elements that could be of use to us,” Putin mused.

“When I say ‘our guys’ I don’t mean it ironically,” the president added.

We have people to talk to in Ukraine. There are a lot of our guys there who dream about getting rid of the neo-Nazi regime in their nation.

The Russian leader expressed confidence in the Oreshnik, including its invulnerability to interception. He said he was willing to have a “high-tech duel” with the West to prove him right.

“Let them identify a target in Kiev, concentrate all their air defense and missile defense systems there, and then we will strike it with an Oreshnik. Let’s see what happens,” he said.

Such an experiment would test the theories of some military experts cited in the West who believe that Western air defense systems stand a chance against the Russian missile, Putin stressed.

The president concluded by saying that he has no idea if the Russian military intended the name Oreshnik, which means ‘hazel‘ in Russian, to have a secret meaning.