A source “familiar with the situation” told Bild that the recent drone strikes by Ukraine’s Armed Forces (AFU) on Tatarstan, was just the beginning.
Ukraine's Military Intelligence Directorate (HUR) confirmed on Tuesday, April 2 that Ukraine had targeted a drone assembly facility in Yelabuga and an oil refinery in Nizhnekamsk, both in Tatarstan, more than 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) from Ukraine. The weapons used are said to have been a modified UJ-22 drone fitted with additional fuel tanks to extend its normal 800-kilometer range and a Ukrainian ultra-light aircraft Aeroprakt A-22 “Flying Fox,” filled with explosives and adapted to act as a drone.
According to Bild’s source the AFU will take delivery of drones from 10 separate manufacturers with ranges of 2,000 km and more. It is hoped that these unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) will make up for the limited numbers of long-range missiles in Kyiv’s armory.
“Rockets are a thing of the past. Drones are the future,” the source said. He said that the Luch design bureau has developed the Sokol-3000 UAV, which can fly over 3,000 kilometers. Such a weapon would allow Ukraine to hit targets in the Murmansk region where there are more than 80 military bases, one of which the Olenya airfield is home to the strategic bombers that have launched hundreds of missiles against Ukraine.
These capabilities will be good news for Ukraine’s ability to defend itself and take the fight ever deeper into the Russian mainland while presenting Russia with a whole new range of military, political and social problems to deal with. According to Tatar political commentators Tuesday’s strike the population “is scared and shocked by the fact that… the war came to them, [so far] from the front line.” One can only imagine it would be an even greater trauma in Murmansk.
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It will not only be the Kremlin that will find this a test. NATO’s allies are already split on Ukraine’s current limited ability to hit targets in Russia. Partners such as those in the Baltic nations, the UK, Finland, and France believe that strikes on oil refineries and military targets inside Russia are legally justifiable and that Ukraine should be able to defend itself in any way it chooses.
Finland’s Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen is quoted by the Moscow Times as saying, in answer to a question about the Tatarstan attacks, at the NATO foreign ministers meeting on Thursday: “The UN Charter allows a country, while defending its independence, to attack military targets. So, I would just leave it like that.”
Other nations are concerned that attacks on Russia risk further escalation of the war and that attacks against the oil industry could destabilize the global energy market. This fear is one of the main drivers for the reluctance of Germany to provide Taurus cruise missiles and the US (up until now) to provide ATACMS missiles, both of which only have a 300-kilometer range.
At a recent press conference in Paris, France US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, said that Washington “has neither supported nor enabled” strikes by Ukraine outside its internationally recognized borders.
Alongside him French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejournet said that as far as France was concerned Kyiv was acting “within the framework of legitimate defense.”
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Comments (12)
By Blinken's logic, the U.S. should neither "support nor enable" Israel to use U.S. weapons outside its internationally recognized borders. (I'm from the U.S.)
The US is now a structurally unreliable ally. Americans always outsmart and defeat themselves with too many contradicting self imposed considerations and constraints, both politically and militarily.
All Russia did to engineer paralysis or self defeat within the US is use cyber influencers to highlight multiple opposing economic, political, environmental and social principles that various US factions subscribe to, and just enjoy the resulting internal gridlock.
The EU leaders fell hook line and sinker for the obvious puffery coming out of Putin and his acolytes in Moscow. Reminded me of the end of wizard of Oz movie, where the wizard’s massive image and imaginary powers are exposed as a giant fraud.
There is a ray of hope however. Who would have thought Macron would be the first to discern the true impotence of Russia on a conventional battlefield, give the nuclear options are never practical tools to achieve useful goa
I don't know about the rest of you commenters here at Kyiv Post, but I plan to return to Ukraine as soon as I can. I want to be part of Ukraine's reconstruction and Rennaissance. It seems that Ukraine will be the most secure, sovereign, productive and freedom-based country on Earth after this.
I encourage everyone to consider doing the same. Ukraine needs civilian partners and entrepreneurs as much as it needs weapons.
Excellent, long overdue. Take the fight to the bully.
This geopolitical game played by the big players has caused Ukraine to take on one of the west's back room partners. The evil nature of the whole Davos mafia's money making scheme throws the little guy under the bus.
Ukraine has been screwed so many times since Holodomor and now its time for Ukraine to shake off all the predatory fleas and ticks INCLUDING the west so her people can actually begin to THRIVE without being under someone else's boot.
Take out Russian power with innovative weapons, tell Washington to keep their manipulative game, and find actual partners who can be trusted.
it is clear the USA and Germany will not support Ukriane to win this war. they only want Ukraine to wear the Russian down, then to surrender lands to Moscow... it is shameful how cowardly these 2 nations are with their support or/and lack of support to Ukriane.
Both countries have given a green light to Russia that they can launch any weapon against Ukriane from within Russia and Ukraine should not protect their nation!
@GregC, Washington and Wall St would LOVE another Cold War, this time with Russia AND China. The last one was so very profitable.
But little ole Ukraine could take out Russia and deprive the Military Industrial Complex of their cash cow.
That is what's happening, in my opinion. China has been financed as a new Cold War adversary right through the front door of western retail stores and suppliers.
Ukraine is mucking up the plan for Washington, Davos, etc
@GregC, in the current political climate, I cannot help admiring the stance taken by France’s President Macron. He seems to get the picture, and is not averse to supporting Ukraine in ways that others are not. I am not French, so have no vested interest in saying this. If all the European nations took similar views to Macron and grew the bollocks necessary, Russia would already be beaten.
@Go France!, The more the merrier. As NATO maintains its lethargy, here's hoping more allied nations will also join France's stance (so far Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania have....Poland seems close as well). Most these nations have direct experience being oppressed under Russia similarly inhumane predecessor USSR.
Given France's sizeable weapons industry (10.9% market share of world weapons export. 2nd largest), they stand to be an economic winner if USA is seen as becoming less reliable as the historic "arsenal to the world" (presently 40% of world's weapons exports are from USA). Russia's current market share (10.5%) will likely fall. Ukraine's drone innovations put it on track to be a cost effective weapons supplier post war.
NATO's sitting this criminal Russia initiated war out, is going to make its current leadership look scared and weak in the history books. Particularly after its previous leadership was so active & key in shutting down the Balkans war in the 1990's.
There’s a difference between supplying long-range missiles while actively encouraging use of these to strike targets in Russia, and supplying them whilst encouraging their use to strike targets only within occupied Ukraine. Doing the latter is exactly what we should be doing. Ukraine can take care of the targets inside Russia with their own technology. So the question is: do we trust Ukraine to have our long-range missiles and only use them within Ukraine? If we doubt this trust, then all is lost anyway.
I am looking forward to the day when Ukraine will be able to launch an army of long range drones, to knock out the Kersh bridge, and simultaneously attack military installations and energy plants all over Russia.
Ukraine has the right to not only defend its territory and people but also to destroy each and every russian military installation no matter how deep it is located in russian territory. Ukraine should be provided with all means necessary to do so. Russia is escalating no matter what and lame excuses from the West trying to justify the inadequate military help to Ukraine is only encouraging this.
'reluctance of Germany'. Bullshit. Germany does not want Ukraine to win the war because Ukraine will surpass Germany economically and militarily. Ukrainians have shown them selves to be innovative, intelligent, resourceful people. GOD bless Ukraine and its people.
Destroy all you can in russia , they deserve to be destroyed.
@Jep Sap, you nailed it. Ukraine was the "Germany" of the USSR in production and innovation. Ukraine will make Germany look like Moldova in production once the Russian tumor has been removed from Ukraine's future.
Keep in mind though that the entire Davos mafia wants to capture Ukraine's potential and put in under their control, so Russia isn't Ukraine's only shady partner.
I’m not worried about it, nor am I worried about paying higher energy prices. We in the west should be doing everything necessary to support Ukraine 🇺🇦 AND Georgia 🇬🇪 in making Putin pay the price. 🇺🇸
Whenever I hear about the fear of escalation I'm thinking "how can russia possible escalate more?" They are already throwing everything but the kitchen sink at Ukraine, so if we rule out nuclear weapons (which even little Putler knows would be suicide), what else is there to "escalate"?
In that light, go for it Kyiv, send those drones. More drones, heavier drones, light up the Russian skies.