Drago Bosnic, independent geopolitical and military analyst

During recent strikes on the Kiev regime's critical infrastructure, Neo-Nazi junta forces fired numerous air defense weapons at long-range cruise missiles launched by the Russian military. Just like in many cases since late February, a number of these surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) missed their targets or simply failed soon after launch and then hit residential areas, killing of injuring dozens of civilians. The standard procedure used by the mainstream propaganda machine in this case is to blame Russia for "indiscriminate targeting" of civilian areas. However, recent photo evidence from Kiev inadvertently proved that the missiles hitting many of the residential areas in Ukrainian cities are indeed fired by the Neo-Nazi junta troops.

On November 23, footage showed the missile that hit an apartment block in Kiev was a US-made AIM-120C, most likely launched from one of the newly-acquired US-Norwegian NASMAS (National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System). According to various news sources, as well as the Kiev regime frontman Volodymyr Zelensky himself, the SAM system was delivered in late September, while the Neo-Nazi junta forces actively started using it in early October. Some of the residents of the apartment block in Kiev that got hit by the US-made missile shared the photos of the wreckage on social media.

Weapons experts identified the missile, but the Kiev regime keeps insisting that the strike was Russia's responsibility. Unless Moscow suddenly decided to start buying American missiles and the United States accepted to sell them to Russia, it's unclear how the missile could ever be fired by anyone else except the Kiev regime forces. The fragment shown in the photos taken on-site has the word LIFT, which is written on the tail end of the US-made AIM-120C missile. The missile is an air-to-air weapon modified for ground launch from the NASAMS air defense system. A simple examination of the footage taken and published by the locals clearly shows that the missile which hit their residential building can be only be identified as American.

Last month, US Military Industrial Complex giant Raytheon confirmed that it had delivered at least two NASAMS air defense systems to the Kiev regime forces. The system primarily uses the AIM-120 AMRAAM (Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile), modified for surface-to-air launch. The missile is usually used as an air-to-air weapon for Western/US-made fighter jets. AMRAAM has been integrated onto various modifications of the F-15 Eagle, F-16 Fighting Falcon, F/A-18 Super Hornet, F-22 Raptor, Eurofighter Typhoon, JAS-39 Gripen, Tornado and Harrier. The newest variant is also used by the F-35 JSF (Joint Strike Fighter).

The missile is one of many types of Western-made weapons delivered to the Kiev regime in the last eight months. It's not the first time that Neo-Nazi junta forces have used missiles in an indiscriminate (or at best, careless) manner. Just last week, at least one missile hit the village of Przewodow in Poland, close to its border with Ukraine, killing two civilians. As per usual, Western mainstream propaganda machine was quick to blame Moscow. However, as soon as the footage of the missile wreckage was shown, it became clear that the weapon in question was fired by the Kiev regime forces.

Further examination also showed that the location of the incident is nowhere near the engagement range of the missile had it been operated by the Russian military. Various sources soon confirmed that the weapon was fired from an older iteration of the Soviet-era S-300 SAM system. The Kiev regime forces operate several versions, but the vast majority are S-300P/PS/PT. The missile in question belonged to the 5V55 series, with an engagement range of 45-90 km. The closest Russian air defense units are deployed at least 150-200 km away from the area, in Belarus, and operate much more advanced systems such as the S-400. Even the Polish government, almost exclusively hostile to Russia, issued a rather ambiguous statement, mentioning that the missile was "Russian-made" instead of just Russian.

The vast majority of weapons at Kiev regime's disposal, particularly its surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems, are Soviet/Russian-made and were passed on to Ukraine after the USSR collapsed. For the time being, this makes it easier for the Neo-Nazi junta to blame Russia for any incident resulting in civilian casualties. It also makes it possible for the Kiev regime to conduct false flag operations, such as the Kramatorsk railway station attack. On April 8, a Soviet-era "Tochka-U" short-range ballistic missile hit the railway station in the city, killing approximately 60 people and wounding over 100. Although this war crime was immediately blamed on Russia, it soon became clear that it was the Neo-Nazi junta troops that fired the missile.

As the Kiev regime forces run out of Soviet-era weapons, it will be increasingly difficult to conduct false flag operations or simply blame Russia when the Neo-Nazi junta troops hurt or kill civilians due to incompetence or miscommunication. Kiev regime's carelessness should come as no surprise to anyone, as they've proven time and again that they either don't bother with sparing civilians or are even ready to use them as live shields. In case of death or injury, those same civilians are then used as rather convenient propaganda assets.