September 01, 2024 | 00.01
READING TIME: 3 minutes
Ukraine Wants to Strike Deep into Russia and Asks for Green Light from the United States – and other Western partners – to open a new phase of the war after the attack in the Kursk region. Kiev wants to use long-range Atacms missiles to hit targets already identified. Washington in the spring authorized the Ukrainian armed forces to strike across the border to stem Russian attacks on Kharkiv. Now, a new step is being taken.
“We explained” to the US “what capabilities we need to protect citizens from Russian terror” and “I hope they listened to us,” Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said in an interview with CNN, confirming that he had presented his interlocutors with a list of targets that the Ukrainians would like to hit on Russian territory with Atacms if they were allowed to.
“We are proving that the air bases they use to strike our cities are within range of deep strikes. – says Umerov – They are killing our people. That is why we want to discourage them. We want to stop them. We do not want to allow their Air Force to come close to our borders to bomb our cities”.
Zelensky’s message
The concept is also touched upon by President Volodymyr Zelensky in his daily message. “Freeing the Ukrainian skies from Russian air-guided bombs is an important step to force Russia to try to end the war and come to a just peace. And I appeal to the United States, Great Britain, France and Germany: we need permission for long-range capabilities, as well as long-range projectiles and missiles.”
“We need long-range missiles. Vital decisions cannot be postponed,” the president said. “We have agreements with you on air defense and missiles for air defense systems. It is important to implement all this as soon as possible,” he said, addressing international partners.
Zelensky’s message takes on particular significance in light of the events of the last 24 hours, marked by yet another Russian attack on Kharkiv.
Two people were killed and eight others injured in a bombing against a locality in this region of eastern Ukraine, as reported by the governor Oleh Syniehubov, reporting via Telegram of a raid by Russian forces on a residential building in Cherkaska Lozova. Among the victims is a woman. On Friday, at least six deaths and 97 injuries were recorded in the city of Kharkiv, where a day of mourning was declared yesterday.
Borrell and Tajani
The Russian strike on a residential building in Kharkiv on Saturday had a “shocking” toll and “such attacks on civilian targets are the reason why during our informal meetings of EU ministers, Ukraine again asked to lift restrictions on the use of Western weapons, for self-defense,” EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell wrote in X, referring to Kiev’s request to allow Ukrainian forces to strike military targets on Russian territory. The European Union has not reached a unified position on the matter, each country adopts its own line.
Italy’s position is reiterated by Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani. “We are on Ukraine’s side without ifs or buts. We have already sent almost the entire ninth package of military support. The agreements we have are that Italian weapons can be used on Ukrainian soil. Just as we will not send soldiers to Russia, we say that our weapons must not be used on Russian soil. But they must be weapons that can be used inside Ukraine to defend the integrity and freedom of Ukraine”, the words of the deputy prime minister on the sidelines of the affaritaliani.it event ‘La Piazza’.
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