President Zelensky mocks Putin over Russia’s use of ‘wonder weapon’ lasers
PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY has mocked Vladimir Putin following Russia's announcement on Wednesday that they are using new powerful laser weapons in the fight against Ukraine.
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Russia’s deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov spoke at a conference in Moscow and revealed that the Peresvet laser system and a new generation of laser weapons is being widely deployed in Ukraine. Moscow claims that the weapons can blind satellites 900 miles above the Earth and burn up drones in as little as five seconds.
The laser system is one of many weapons that has been revealed by the Kremlin, though many are never seen outside of laboratories.
The weapon was first announced by President Putin in 2018 but has never before been issued to military forces.
The announcement that the Peresvet weapons have now been issued to Russian forces has been seen as retaliation on the amount of equipment that has been sent to Ukrainian forces by Western allies.
During his announcement at the conference, the Deputy PM said that during a test, the weapon had destroyed a drone 5 kilometres away within five seconds.
Talking to Russian state television he said: “If Peresvet blinds, then the new generation of laser weapons lead to the physical destruction of the target – thermal destruction, they burn up.”
He was asked if such weapons were in use in Ukraine and he replied: “Yes. The first prototypes are already being used there.”
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Russian claims about the use of novel laser weapons in Ukraine are akin to Nazi Germany's Wunderwaffe. The clearer it became that Nazis had no chance, the more talks there were about "miracle weapons."
— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) May 19, 2022
Russia bringing up "Wunderwaffe" means invasion totally failed - Zelenskyy pic.twitter.com/PT88I7CSZK
President Zelenky has bitten back by mocking the Russians by comparing the lasers to the supposed ‘wonder weapons’ of Nazi Germany in World War Two in a bid to stop their demise.
In a video address, Zelenksy said: “The clearer it became that they had no chance in the war, the more propaganda there was about an amazing weapon that would be so powerful as to ensure a turning point.
“And so, we see that in the third month of a full-scale war, Russia is trying to find its ‘wonder weapon’…this all clearly shows the complete failure of the mission.”
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Russia claims Peresvet is already being widely deployed and it could blind satellites up to 1,500km above Earth,
— DharmicAtma (@DharmicAtma) May 18, 2022
and that there are more powerful Russian systems that can burn drones 5 km away within five seconds.https://t.co/Hhbn19838V
Aside from the benefit that laser weapons can burn up drones and blind scouting systems, another advantage is the strategic impact of destroying satellites which are used to monitor global ballistic missiles carrying nuclear weapons.
The Prime Minister Borisov announced that he had returned from Sarov, the centre of Russia’s nuclear weapons research.
He added that a new generation of laser weapons which use a wide electromagnetic bang will eventually replace conventional weapons.
He said: “This is not some sort of exotic idea; it is the reality.”