What's behind West's ban on missile strikes into Russia: Expert's opinion
Photo: What may be behind the West's ban on firing missiles at Russia (Getty Images)
The West's prohibition of missile strikes against Russia may rest on the fact that these countries do not have enough missiles. This is why there are theses about escalation and red lines, according to RBC-Ukraine's article.
According to Ivan Kyrychevskyi, an expert at the Defense Express information and consulting agency, France had only about 600 SCALPs, the UK ordered only 1,000 Storm Shadow, of which a considerable number were fired, and the US also had about a thousand units in stock.
Secondly, in his opinion, the Ukrainian army and its partners may have problems with accurate intelligence on Russian military facilities. Unlike in the Black Sea, where NATO aircraft are constantly flying and can conduct reconnaissance, this is not the case over Kursk and Belgorod.
"Our partners could not give us all these stockpiles. It is logical that, in the West's opinion, it is worth firing these missiles where you can ensure plus or minus accuracy. And our partners are only able to ensure such accuracy in the temporarily occupied Crimea. Therefore, it is better to say that this is an escalation, about red lines and so on, than to admit your weakness," Kyrychevskyi believes.
There is one more important detail that Defense Express analysts discovered. To hit the airfields in the occupied Crimea, less missile consumption is required because they are smaller in area. Whereas, for example, Morozovsk, if the Russians had no air defenses there at all, would require about 50 missiles.
Another option for the Ukrainian Armed Forces would be to equip F-16 fighter jets with AGM-158-JASSM missiles, which have a range of 400 kilometers, Kyrychevskyi says. However, so far, the allies have not agreed to provide us with such weapons, at least based on public information.
Ukraine's strikes on Russian territory with Western weapons
For several months now, there has been a discussion about allowing Ukraine to use Western weapons to strike at military targets located in Russia.
Earlier, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine considers it unfair to restrict the use of Western weapons against Russia on its territory, but Kyiv cannot risk the support of its allies.
Such strikes have already shown their effectiveness. According to AP, the US authorization of strikes against Russia has thwarted a larger offensive in the Kharkiv region. According to the newspaper, the Russians were preparing an even bigger offensive on the region, concentrating about 90,000 soldiers in the area.
