Kyiv has asked the United States to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system in one of the eastern regions of Ukraine bordering Russia.
The request was disclosed by a Ukrainian diplomatic source quoted by the TASS news agency on Monday.
"Kyiv has reached out to Washington, seeking to have several batteries of THAAD missile interceptors deployed in the eastern region of the country; Kharkiv, along with appropriate radar equipment," the source said.
"The AN/TPY-2 radar system, which is part of the THAAD complex, is capable of monitoring the aerospace situation over large parts of Russia and can allow Kyiv and its NATO allies to 'peek' deep into Russian territory for a range of up to 1,000 km," continued the source.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quick to react to the reports. He warned that the deployment of the weapons would further escalate the ongoing crisis around Ukraine.
"This will be another step towards destabilizing the situation," Peskov told reporters, as quoted by Russia Today, Tuesday (8/2/2022).
The West recently shipped around 1,000 tonnes of military equipment to prop up Kyiv amid fears of a Russian invasion.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba revealed the scale of Western military assistance on Monday, praising the international political and economic support Kyiv has received.
"Over these weeks and months we have received more than $1.5 billion, and more than 1,000 tonnes of weapons and weapons," he said.
In January alone, the US delivered 79 tonnes of military hardware to Ukraine, including about 300 Javelin anti-tank systems.
The UK also delivered a large number of weapons, delivered NLAW anti-tank missiles, and deployed additional military instructors to teach Ukrainian forces how to use the system.
Top Western officials have repeatedly claimed Moscow was trying to attack its neighbor.
However, Moscow has consistently denied the allegations and insists that the deployment of its hundreds of thousands of troops near the Ukrainian border is legitimate because it is still on Russian soil.
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