ANALYSIS – One of the biggest restrictions Western countries have placed on their weapons donations to Ukraine is range. They have steadfastly refused to give Kyiv weapons that can strike targets far inside Russia.
The fear has been that giving Ukraine these long-range weapons would be a major escalation against Russia, provoking a response from Vladimir Putin.
But from the Ukrainian perspective, it has made their fight against the Russian invaders very one-sided, with most of the devastation and combat from the war occurring on Ukrainian territory.
The Western restrictions, though, haven't kept Ukraine from developing its own homemade capabilities to strike deep into Russia. So far, this has mostly taken the form of aerial drones. (RELATED: Ukraine's Big Attacks On Russian Air Bases Destroy Or Damage 7 Jets)
According to the BBC, there have been more than 190 suspected aerial attacks this year in Russia and Russian-annexed Crimea. Moscow blames Kyiv for the wave of drone attacks inside Russia.
So far, in 2023, drone attacks have been concentrated in the Bryansk, Belgorod and Kursk regions in Russia near the western border with Ukraine.
Ukrainian ‘Beaver' drones have also repeatedly reached Moscow and its environs, which is about 280 miles or 450 kilometers from the Ukraine border. While they haven't caused significant damage, they have had a powerful psychological effect, demonstrating that Mother Russia isn't immune from attack.
Ukraine hasn't claimed responsibility for these attacks, but President Volodymyr Zelensky has previously said that attacks on Russian territory are an “inevitable, natural and absolutely fair process.” (RELATED: Kremlin Attacked In What Russian Propaganda Calls Putin Assassination Attempt)
This is why Ukraine is reportedly working on six types of aerial drones, which can have a range of 621 miles or 1,000 km. This would put a great deal of Western Russia at risk of drone air attack.
“The war is increasingly moving to Russia's territory, and it cannot be stopped,” Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted Wednesday, after a drone attack on an airfield in Pskov, Russia, damaged or destroyed several military planes.
But that's not all. There have also been successful Ukrainian sea drone attacks in the Black Sea.
The August 4 strike on a Russian navy base near Novorossiysk was one of the latest by Ukrainian sea drones against Russian military vessels and bases there.
Ukrainian security service sources say the Russian landing ship Olenegorsky Gornyak was hit and suffered a serious breach.
Ukraine has carried out at least 11 attacks with sea drones, according to BBC Verify, targeting military ships, Russia's naval base in Sevastopol and Novorossiysk harbor.
But now, Ukraine is claiming it is also producing and deploying a long-range, domestically produced missile that can strike deep into Russia. And it has already been used in combat.
The Washington Post reported:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, posting on the social media platform Telegram, said Ukrainian forces had successfully hit a target 700 kilometers (435 miles) away, using a missile “of our own production.”
The secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, Oleksiy Danilov, said Friday that the missile could travel farther but did not specify its full range.
Russia is “already feeling” the effect of the new missiles, Danilov said on Ukrainian television, adding: “Production is underway.”
As The Post noted: “The Ukrainian officials' statements could not be independently verified.”
“If confirmed, however, a domestically produced long-range missile would be a threshold development for the Ukrainian military…”
Danilov added: “Believe me, already very soon someone [in Russia] will be burned, and burned in the direct sense of the word.”
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Awesome Ukraine awesome
Why should anyone in Russia be surprised that a country they have invaded and where they have murdered citizens, when the invaded country retaliates with attacks in response. All Pootie has to do to stop drone attacks is withdraw his forces back into Russia. As long as Pootie continues bombarding Kiev with missiles, rockets, and artillery, he should expect the Ukrainians to send drones to bomb Moscow and Russian military targets.
They have the right to defend themselves and, wishful thinking I know, love to see them level Moscow and St. Petersburg giving the Russian Scumbags a taste of their own atrocities. None of this would be happening if Trump was our President and as far as I am concerned every Freakin’ Marxist Democrat has blood on their hands.