Russia responded to the arrival of 3,000 U.S. troops in Poland by deploying advanced S-400 anti-aircraft missiles around Moscow.
The UK Daily Mail quotes the Russian Defense Ministry as saying:
The SAM combat squads of the Moscow Region aerospace forces have put the new S-400 Triumph air defense missile system into service, and have gone on combat duty for the air defense of Moscow and the central industrial region of Russia. The main task of the anti-aircraft missile troops of the Russian Aerospace Forces is air defense and protecting vital state, military, industry and energy facilities, as well as the Armed Forces troops and transport communications, from aerospace attacks.
According to International Business Times, the Defense Ministry plans to deploy four more units equipped with S-400 launchers later this year.
The UK Independent reports that the first deployment will take up positions in Podolsk, 15 miles south of Moscow. The Russians announced that S-400s would be deployed to Kaliningrad, near the Polish and Lithuanian borders, in November — a position that would give them the ability to target NATO aircraft over most of the Baltic region.
The Independent observes that Russian officials gave no indication of which “enemy” they expected to launch airstrikes on vital infrastructure around Moscow.
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