West's proper response to attacks on Lviv would be to send Tomahawks
Yehor Chernev, Head of the Permanent Ukrainian Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (photo: facebook.com/cherneve)
The right response from Ukraine's Western partners to Russian missile attacks on Lviv and other cities would be to provide Tomahawk missiles. This would allow the destruction of Russian strategic aviation, states Yehor Chernev, Head of the Permanent Ukrainian Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.
“The correct response from our partners (to the attacks on Lviv, Kryvyi Rih, and Poltava - ed.) would be to provide us with Tomahawks capable of flying 2000-2500 kilometers and hitting strategic bombers somewhere in the Omsk region, in Olenya, where they take off from,” Chernev emphasized.
He explained that even a permit for long-range weapons would not solve the problem.
"Relatively speaking, even a permit for long-range weapons, namely those we consider long-range because they are actually medium-range, ATACMS, which can fly 300 kilometers, will not solve the problem. Because Russians are firing mostly cruise missiles at Lviv or Kyiv, which are launched from strategic bombers,” he said.
However, Chernev added that these weapons will help Ukraine solve the problem at least with the guided bombs.
“The carriers of the guided bombs are non-strategic bombers that take off at a distance of 200-300 kilometers, where we can hit them with this weapon,” he concluded.
What is a Tomahawk
The Tomahawk is a family of American multi-purpose, high-precision, long-range, subsonic cruise missiles for strategic and tactical use, submarine, surface, land, and air-based.
The missile flies at extremely low altitudes and can avoid terrain. It is in service with ships and submarines of the US Navy and has been used in all major military conflicts involving the United States since its adoption in 1983.
The estimated cost of the missile in 2014 was $1.45 million.
The ban on strikes against Russia
European countries and the US provide Ukraine with long-range missiles as part of military aid. However, the supply is subject to a condition that the weapons not be used to strike at Russian territory.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly called on the allies to change their policy on this issue. He explained that Ukraine needs to attack Russian airfields where tactical and strategic aviation is based.
As Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin recently explained, the Russians have moved their tactical aircraft beyond the range of the ATACMS missiles handed over to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
At the same time, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov explained that Ukraine had handed over a list of targets for deep ATACMS strikes on Russia to the United States.
