Ukraine shoots down 35% of all drones launched by Russia, using various types of portable anti-aircraft missile systems. The Ukrainian military understands which air corridors Russia uses to enter Ukrainian airspace — however, to shoot down more targets, the Armed Forces do not have enough weapons.
This was reported by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky.
Ukraine could not overcome the shortage of 155-caliber artillery shells, which depends on imports from Western partners. The production of the whole of Europe is not enough to cover the needs.
Now Ukraine, according to Zelensky, also has difficulties with drones, which used to "help" when the country had a severe shortage of artillery.
The president said the HIMARS multiple launch systems were "grossly inadequate." When they first began to be delivered, the partners delivered three times more missiles for them per month than Ukraine receives now.
Zelensky noted that all air defense equipment that Ukraine has are working, but "it is desirable that they work with missiles", which are constantly in short supply. Ukrainian air defense fighters are forced to save missiles when shooting down Russian aerial targets and sometimes use one instead of two, the president said.
According to Zelensky, in the form in which Ukraine currently has long-range American ATACMS missiles, they are "useless." There is no point in this weapon if it cannot be used to hit Russian military bases, sites where there are helicopters, military airfields, etc.
Ban on attacks of Ukraine deep into Russia by the US and British weapons
Ukraine has long been asking its allies to allow their weapons to be used for long-range strikes deep into Russia. For such purposes, Ukraineʼs arsenal includes, in particular, American ATACMS surface-to-surface long-range missiles and British Storm Shadow long-range missiles.
However, none of these countries gave Ukraine permission to use their weapons for attacks deep into the Russian Federation. The US fears a possible escalation against the background of this decision. They also believe that lifting restrictions on long-range strikes will have no strategic significance in the war, because Russia has moved its most important targets, including aircraft, away from the border and made them inaccessible for strikes.
And Great Britain, in turn, cannot allow such strikes to Ukraine due to resistance from the United States.
However, after Iran transferred ballistic missiles to Russia, this issue began to move.
- On Friday, September 13, US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will meet. They are expected to discuss allowing Ukraine to strike deep into Russia with American and British weapons.
- The Guardian wrote that Great Britain has already decided to allow Ukraine to hit targets in Russia with long-range Storm Shadow missiles. There were no official announcements regarding such decisions.