2024-07-04 22:56:27
The US supplied Ukraine with ATACMS long-range missiles, but the defenders cannot use them as they would like against Russian aggression. The administration of Joe Biden forbids them from deploying these effective weapons for attacks on the territory of Russia. Kiev managed – it started to use its weapon originally intended for sinking ships.
This is how Ukraine destroyed the award-winning Russian S-400 anti-aircraft system with its Neptun missile. | Video: Associated Press
“The US has not allowed the Ukrainians to use American weapons to strike legitimate targets on Russian territory in full. And they still prohibit the use of ATACMS long-range missiles anywhere in Russia,” wrote analysts from the Washington think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi also commented on the fact that Ukraine may use American weapons only in occupied territories. “It is absolutely illogical for Ukraine to have Western weapons and just watch the murderers and terrorists who are killing us from the Russian side. I feel that sometimes they just laugh at this situation,” Zelenskyy said in an interview with The Guardian.
Even though Ukraine has long-range weapons at its disposal, which it is not allowed to use on Russian territory, it managed. Domestically manufactured Neptun anti-ship missiles modified for land attack to hit vulnerable energy facilities in Russia.
The R-360 Neptun is a long-range subsonic missile developed by the Kyiv-based defense firm Luch Design Bureau. Ukraine used these weapons in the past to sink the missile cruiser Moskva, which was once the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
Ukraine is now working on modifying the Neptunes so that they can be used for further strikes against ground targets. There have already been reports in the past that Kiev attacked the occupied areas of the Crimean peninsula with such a modified weapon.
At the end of May, Ukrainian forces hit an oil warehouse on Russian territory, a port in the Black Sea or an oil terminal in Chushka, which is separated from occupied Crimea by the Kerch Strait.
“Ukraine first debuted Neptune anti-ship missiles against Russian naval targets in April 2022 and has had to further develop and modify these missiles to conduct deep strikes against Russian territory,” the US think tank said.
Modified Neptunes are one of several Ukrainian innovations out of necessity. For example, Kiev is developing and using explosive naval drones to replace the lack of a regular navy.
It has also developed low-cost, long-range drones to strike military and energy targets deep inside Russia, where it is barred from using Western-supplied weapons.
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