Iranian missiles in Russia are legitimate target says Ukraine
Western partner countries must allow Ukraine to use weapons they have supplied to strike military warehouses inside Russia because of strong suspicions Iran has provided ballistic missiles for the Kremlin’s war effort, a senior Ukrainian official said.
The United States has reportedly told allies it believes Iran has sent short-range ballistic missiles to Russia for its war in Ukraine.
Western countries supporting Ukraine have hesitated to let its military strike targets on Russian soil, fearing they could be sucked into Europe’s biggest conflict since the Second World War, but the head of the Ukrainian presidential office said“protection is not escalation ”.
“In response to the supply of ballistic missiles to Russia, Ukraine must be allowed to destroy warehouses storing these missiles with Western weapons in order to avoid terror,” Andrii Yermak said on his Telegram channel.
He did not specify which country was supplying the missiles.
Russia has already subjected Ukraine to repeated and devastating long-range missile and dr one bombardments that have killed more than 10,000 civilians since the start of the war in February 2022, according to a United Nations tally.
The barrages have also crippled electricity production.
Ukraine has refused to cave in, however, and recently launched a bold incursion into Russia’s Kursk region even while toiling to hold back a Russian push in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region.
Russia has been receiving Iranian-made shah ed dr ones since 2022.
The possible shipment of Iranian ballistic missiles to Russia as well has alarmed Western governments as president Vladimir Putin reaches out to other countries to provide him with support.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday said yesterday of the Iranian missile reports that “this kind of information is not true every time”.
He added, however: “Iran is our important partner. We are developing our trade and economic relations. We are devel oping our co-operation and dialogue in all possible areas, including the most sensitive ones, and will continue to do so in the interests of the peoples of our two countries.”
In Iran, foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani denied Tehran armed Russia with missiles.
“We strongly reject allegations about Iran’s role in sending weapons to one side of the war and we assess these allegations as politically motivated by some parties ,” mr kanaan is aid.
The Ukrainian foreign saturday expressed“deep concern” about that possibility.
“Iran must completely and definitively stop providing weapons to Russia in order to prove with actions, not words, the sincerity of its political leadership’ s statements about non fuel ling the russian war machine of death ,” a statement said.
China’s defence ministry yesterday on Monday announced joint naval and air drills with Russia starting this month.
While China has not directly provided Russia with arms, it has become a vital economic lifeline as a leading customer for Russian oil and gas.
Ukraine must be allowed to destroy these missiles with Western weapons in order to avoid terror Andrii Yermak