Mr. Lavrov: The EU wants Ukraine to attack `the heart of Russia` with long-range weapons 0
(Dan Tri) – Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused the EU of giving recommendations to Ukraine about the need to use long-range weapons to `reach the heart of Russia`.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (Photo: Reuters).
Mr. Lavrov made the above assertion while speaking at a conference on Ukraine in Moscow, Sputnik reported on February 16.
`According to our information, the European External Action Service has issued recommendations for Ukraine, based on the fact that Ukraine cannot win and will lose with the methods it is using,`
`That’s why (the EU) needs to bet on transferring more long-range weapons to Ukraine to reach `Russia’s heart`, as the EU describes it, thereby spreading confusion and panic.
Foreign Minister Lavrov made the above statement in the context of Ukraine recently increasing its deep attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure.
Ukraine could cause billions of dollars in damage to Russia if it raids two large Russian oil depots in the Baltic Sea, Ust-Luga and Primorsk.
Raids on oil infrastructure are often carried out by Ukraine using small, cheap UAVs.
Reuters quoted Ukrainian Digital Minister Mykhailo Fedorov this month as saying that Ukraine will produce thousands of long-range UAVs capable of deep strikes into Russia this year and there are currently up to 10 companies manufacturing UAVs that can
`Long-range suicide UAVs are increasingly developing, with ranges of 300, 500, 700 and 1,000km. Two years ago, this type of drone did not exist at all,` Mr. Fedorov told Reuters.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has also set a goal for Ukraine this year to produce one million first-person suicide UAVs.
Storm Shadow missile model – the type of missile that Britain provided to Ukraine during the war with Russia (Illustration: AFP).
Besides UAV attacks, Ukraine is also trying to strengthen its ability to attack with long-range missiles, partly based on domestic research and production and partly thanks to weapons aid from Western allies.
Britain and France have provided Ukraine with a number of long-range weapons such as Storm Shadow and SCALP missiles.
The media said that Berlin was hesitant to make this move because it was afraid of escalating the situation if Taurus missiles were used to attack Russian territory and the bridge connecting the Crimean peninsula.
Russia has repeatedly criticized Western countries for providing weapons to Ukraine, and warned that NATO members were in fact directly involved in the conflict.
Moscow affirmed that it considers weapons provided by the West to be legitimate targets in the `special military operation` in Ukraine.
