Ukraine is repeatedly hit hard by Russian missiles. But the Ukrainian president wants to turn the tables and has announced that he will produce his own missiles.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has promised to develop and build his own long-range missiles. “Our missile program is showing good momentum and even though the task is difficult, we are gradually moving towards the possibility of using our missiles and not just relying on the missiles supplied by our partners,” Zelensky said in his daily video address. He called for the greatest possible independence in weapons production and especially missile production.
Ukraine’s missile program is not starting from scratch. The republic was already the main location for Soviet missile production during the Soviet era. After the start of hostilities in eastern Ukraine between government troops and pro-Russian separatists in 2014, new types of missiles were introduced. After the Russian invasion in 2022, Kiev says it sank the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the “Moskva,” with missiles of its own production. These are said to have a range of almost 300 kilometers.
However, Zelenskyj now wants to significantly increase this range so that Kiev can use missiles as well as drones to attack military facilities deep in the Russian hinterland. So far, however, Moscow still has clear advantages in this regard. Ukraine is not allowed to use Western weapons to attack facilities further away in Russia, partly because Europeans and Americans fear a further escalation of the conflict beyond Ukraine.
Zelenskyj speech (Ukr)
Source: Stern
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