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Russian Pantsir-S1 missile defense system. Photo/Arctic Today
Images and videos of what is said to be the Pantsir-S1 air defense system seen on the roofs of several Moscow buildings are circulating on Twitter.
Senior member of the Foreign Policy Research Institute’s Eurasian Program and a Ph.D. King’s College London War Studies Department student Rob Lee tweeted that the systems were installed in administration buildings in Moscow and in the Russian Defense Ministry’s National Defense Management Center.
Reports of the addition of new air defenses in Moscow came the same day that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned the conflict would escalate if Western countries provided Ukraine with long-range weapons.
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“Potentially, this is very dangerous, it means taking the conflict to a whole new level, which of course will not bode well from a global security and pan-European point of view,” Peskov told reporters, according to Agence France-Presse.
As Russia seeks to prevent the West from providing Ukraine with long-range weapons, some Twitter accounts appear to be mocking the country in regards to the reported Pantsir-S1 installation.
“Great news! The ‘Pantsir-S1’ air defense system has been successfully installed in several buildings in Moscow near the Kremlin, including the Ministry of Defense building. Everything is going according to plan, right?” tweeted the account for the Saint Javelin campaign, which raises funds to help Ukraine as quoted by Newsweek, Friday (20/1/2023).
Charles Lister, a senior research fellow and director of the Syria and Countering Terrorism & Extremism program at the Middle East Institute, also highlighted the new developments in the Russian capital on Twitter.
“Earlier today, #Russia deployed Pantsir air defense system over several high-rise buildings in #Moscow, including Ministry of Defence. Not sure what to worry about…,” he tweeted with a winking face emoji.
