Ukraine’s commander-in-chief calls on U.S. and Europe to help Kyiv bring war to Russian territory
In an interview with The Washington Post published Wednesday, Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi asked the U.S. and Europe to provide Ukraine with a new supply of longer-range missiles and to lift restrictions on using them against targets inside Russia.
Syrskyi said that if Ukraine were supplied with a large number of medium- and longer-range missiles, including U.S.-made ATACMS and German Taurus systems, the Ukrainian military would be able to slow down Russia’s weapons production by striking missile and drone manufacturing facilities on Russian territory.
“They are targeting virtually everything — airfields, populated areas, infrastructure facilities,” Syrskyi said in the interview, which was conducted on July 19. “So, of course, we need supplies of ballistic missiles in order to be able to give the enemy a fitting rebuff.”
He added that simply having missile capabilities acts as a deterrent in itself. “I hope that thanks to President Trump’s position, this process will be much easier and… we won’t have any of the difficulties we had before.”
Syrskyi did not comment on whether Ukraine still has any ATACMS missiles left in its arsenal, but he said the country is running short on 155mm artillery shells and armored vehicles. The Washington Post reported that it’s “widely understood” that Ukraine’s ATACMS have been depleted.
“We have highly motivated and courageous soldiers who can advance,” he said, “but they need modern, reliable means of protection.”
On July 14, Donald Trump announced that the United States and NATO had reached an agreement on arms deliveries to Ukraine in which the cost of American weapons would be covered by other NATO allies. According to a NATO official, the initiative has been backed by Germany, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, the U.K., Canada, and Finland, The Wall Street Journal reported.
