Ukraine’s President Volodimir Zelensky said his country needs long-range missiles to help combat Russian missile attacks following an explosion in the Donetsk region on Saturday that killed three people.
“It would have been possible to stop this Russian terror if we could provide the appropriate missile capabilities of our military,” Zelensky said in a speech posted on the president’s website on Saturday.
“Ukraine needs long-range missiles, in particular to eliminate this possibility of the occupiers placing their missile launchers somewhere far from the front line and destroying Ukrainian cities,” he added.
Russia has been able to strike areas in Ukraine far from the front lines, such as the Donetsk region, due to its long-range missile capabilities.
As Zelensky appeals to foreign allies for more military aid, the United States has so far refrained from providing such weapons, worried that kyiv would launch an airstrike on Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.), a native of Ukraine, has pushed the Biden administration to provide long-range missiles to the country.
“The next six months will be critical for the brutal war in the Ukraine, and longer-range capabilities will be crucial to its success,” he said. “The Biden administration must be proactive and provide adequate security assistance to the Ukrainian military in a more timely manner to deter further Russian aggression.”
