Ukraine may deploy weapons on Russian territory: ‘Important signal’

NOS News•today, 11:49

Until now, it was one of the conditions for weapons supplied to Ukraine: they could not be used on Russian territory. Britain will be allowed to do that from now on, British Foreign Minister Cameron said yesterday during his visit to Kyiv. It indicates that there is a change in the attitude of Ukraine’s allies.

“The West has always been deterred by the Russian narrative: if you take this next step, it will be an escalation,” says Patrick Bolder of the The Hague Center for Strategic Studies (HCSS) in the NOS Radio 1 News. “I think that record has now been turned gray.”

“We are going to look at the war that has been going on for so long in a different way. Something has to change. One of those things is to give Ukraine more freedom of action and impose fewer restrictions,” says Bolder.

By using the weapons for attacks on Russian territory, Ukraine can respond earlier to threatened Russian attacks. “There is talk of 20,000 troops that Russia is amassing north of the border with Ukraine,” Bolder said. “You can use that as a reserve to further facilitate the break-in after an initial breakthrough attempt. Then Ukraine could suddenly lose a lot of ground, and no one wants that.”

In recent weeks, Russian troops have also advanced in the Donetsk region. The images below show the destruction of the village of Otsjeretyne.

Drone footage shows Ukrainian village destroyed by Russian attacks

By attacking targets on Russian territory, Ukraine can complicate preparations for a Russian offensive. “It is better to combat the source than to combat the symptoms,” says Bolder. “Countering sources means: attacking deeper into Russia to ensure that those missiles and drones can no longer be fired. It is better to try to disrupt the offensive now by launching attacks far behind the front on those troop locations, ammunition supplies and fuel supplies.”

Of the weapons supplied by the British, the Stormshadow cruise missiles will be particularly useful. These cruise missiles have a range of 250 kilometers. Ukraine has been using these long-range missiles for some time.

“Cameron’s statement is an important signal to Zelensky, but especially to Putin,” says professor of war studies at the University of Leiden Frans Osinga. “And to German Chancellor Scholz who does not want to deliver the Taurus missiles, for fear that they will be used against targets in Russia, which could be seen as an escalation.”

“Cameron’s statement should also be seen together with similar robust statements by French President Marcon and American Defense Minister Loyd,” says Osinga. “This also distances itself from previous statements by the White House security adviser who called on Zelensky to stop attacking targets in Russia.”

Still, Bolder thinks that NATO allies would probably have been somewhat surprised by Cameron’s statement. “There seems to be little consultation. That is logical, because NATO and the EU do not provide support, they are the separate individual member states.”

Ukraine has been using weapons to attack areas occupied by Russia for some time. For example, it was announced last week that the United States had already secretly delivered Atacms missiles to Ukraine in April. The latest long-range missiles have a range of 300 kilometers, while previous Atacms missiles had a range of 150 kilometers.

The map below shows how far the Atacms missiles can go:

The Russian Ministry of Defense reported this week that Atacms missiles had been shot down twice over Crimea. That Ukrainian peninsula was annexed by Russia in 2014. Ukrainian authorities have not confirmed this.