Zelenskyy mocks Russia's laser weapons use, says it indicates 'full failure of invasion'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his late-night address mocked the Russian representative's claim that Moscow had begun using laser weapons in their military offensive in Ukraine. Zelenskyy mockingly compared the use of laser weapons to the "wonder weapon" that was announced by Nazi Germany in a bid to bring a turning point during the second world war. He said that Russia's claim to begin use of a laser weapon system shows the "complete failure of the invasion." 

Zelenskyy asserted that Russia's plan to introduce laser weapons indicates that Moscow is afraid to acknowledge its "catastrophic mistakes." He stressed that "catastrophic mistakes" were committed at the highest state and military levels in Russia. The Ukrainian President said that Russia had begun to use laser weapons allegedly to save their missiles, adding that Russian armed forces had fired thousands of missiles for the destruction of civilian infrastructure in Ukraine and added, "only remnants are left." He further said that Russian forces had fired missiles at Mykolaiv and Dnipro. 

"Russia is trying to find its "wunderwaffe". Allegedly laser. All this clearly indicates the complete failure of the invasion. This also shows that they are afraid to admit that catastrophic mistakes have been made at the highest state and military levels in Russia," Zelenskyy said in his address. 

Zelenskyy expresses gratitude to football player Andriy Shevchenko

In his late-night address, he assured the people in Kherson, Melitopol, Berdyansk, Enerhodar, Mariupol and all other regions that were currently occupied by Russian forces that these parts will soon be under Ukraine's control. Zelenskyy further said that he had signed decrees on the extension of the legal regime of martial law and general mobilization. He expressed hope that the Ukrainian Parliament, Verkhovna Rada, will support his decision. The Ukrainian President expressed gratitude to the legendary football player, Andriy Shevchenko, for becoming the first ambassador of UNITED24, a campaign launched to collect funds for Ukraine. In his address, he informed about his talks with the United Arab Emirates President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and invited him to participate in the redevelopment of Ukraine post-war. 

Russian forces have started using laser weapons: Russia's deputy PM

The statement of the Ukrainian President about Russia introducing laser weapons comes after Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov said that Moscow's forces have started using laser systems in Ukraine. Borisov said that Russia has started using Zadira laser systems that are capable of hitting targets at a range of 5 kilometres, TASS reported citing TV Channel One. He called the Zadira laser weapon "more powerful" than the Peresvet system and stressed that these are capable of blinding  satellites up to 1,500 kilometres. According to Yury Borisov, laser weapon systems have the ability to shoot down different types of drones, as per the TASS report. The statement from Borisov comes as the war between Russia and Ukraine continues for over 80 days causing deaths and destruction in the war-torn nation.   

Image: AP