July 18, 2007 (LPAC)--Russian air force spokesman Alexander Drobyshevsky told Interfax news agency on July 16 that Russia will deploy the S-400 Triumph missile system (also identified by the NATO designation of SA-21 Growler) around Moscow by the end of July. "One division and a command point will be put into combat duty at the end of the month," air force spokesman Alexander Drobyshevsky said, Interfax reported.

The missiles are designed to shoot down medium-range ballistic missiles and aircraft from as far away as 400 kilometers (250 miles), twice as far as the U.S. Patriot missile.

Although the timing of deployment of the S-400 was conceived months ago, the announcement acquired special importance in light of increased military muscle-flexing by the United States.

Despite Russia's repeated opposition, United States may start building a missile shield in Poland in February 2008, Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski said in an interview published in a Russian newspaper on July 16. Washington wants to place interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar facility in the Czech Republic, ostensibly to protect the United States and its allies from potential missile attacks from Iran.

Last month in Germany, Russian President Putin proposed to his American counterpart, George W. Bush, the setting up a Soviet-era early-warning radar in Azerbaijan as a substitute for the radar and interceptors the United States wants to place in Poland and the Czech Republic.