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Zelensky urges US to approve deeper strikes against Russia – Euractiv

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Zelensky urges US to approve deeper strikes against Russia – Euractiv

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stepped up pressure on the United States to allow Kiev to strike military targets deep inside Russia after his representatives met with senior U.S. officials in Washington on Saturday (Aug. 30).

Washington has provided Ukraine with more than $50 billion worth of military aid since 2022, but has limited the use of its weapons to Ukrainian territory and cross-border defensive operations.

Zelensky said guided airstrikes killed six people and wounded 97 in Kharkiv on Friday, and more attacks were expected on Saturday. These attacks could only be avoided by “strikes on Russian military airports, bases and the logistics of Russian terrorists.”

“We will discuss this with our partners every day. We will convince them. We will make the case,” he said in his nightly video address.

He said clearing the skies over Ukraine of Russian guided aerial bombs would be a “powerful step toward pressuring Russia to seek an end to the war and a just peace.”

He called on the United States, Britain, France and Germany: “We need the ability to truly and fully protect Ukraine and Ukrainians.

“We need both permission for long-range capabilities and your long-range shells and missiles.”

He did not provide specifics but said his representatives had “provided all the necessary details to our partners in Ukraine.”

Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, who led a delegation to Washington on Friday and Saturday to meet with U.S. officials and experts, told CNN that Kiev said the Russian airfields used to attack Ukrainian cities were within deep strike range.

“We have explained what capabilities are needed to protect citizens from the terror that the Russians are inflicting on us, so I hope our voice will be heard,” Umerov said in an interview late Friday.

Zelenskiy is expected to make a similar request in person next month, when he presents a victory plan to President Joe Biden near the end of his presidency and attends a session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, who led the Kyiv delegation, said in an X post that she had discussed measures needed to restore Ukraine’s energy system, including a “significant contribution” from an $800 million energy sector financing package announced in June.

She said Russian airstrikes have affected more than half of Ukraine’s electricity infrastructure.

Chief of the presidential administration Andrei Yermak briefed U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on the battlefield situation on Friday in the first meeting during the visit, along with Umerov, the presidential office said in a statement.

At the end of a week in which Russia launched more than 400 missiles and drones at Ukraine, Yermak said it was important for Ukraine to receive weapons from existing defense programs as quickly as possible, the office said.

Ukraine launches drone attack on Moscow

Ukraine launched drone attacks on Moscow and several other targets inside Russia on Sunday night, regional officials said, as Kiev pressured the United States to allow attacks inside Russia using weapons provided by its allies.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said in a post on the Telegram messaging app that at least five drones flying towards Moscow were destroyed in the area around the Russian capital.

Some 26 drones launched by Ukraine were destroyed in the Bryansk border region in southwestern Russia, the region’s governor, Alexander Bogomaz, said in a telegram.

Regional governors posted on Telegram that more than 10 drones were destroyed in the Voronezh region, and several drones were shot down in the Kursk, Lipetsk, Ryazan and Tula regions.

According to preliminary reports, the attack caused no casualties or property damage. Russia rarely discloses the full extent of the damage caused by its Ukrainian air strikes.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports. Ukraine has yet to comment.

As Ukraine’s domestic drone industry rapidly develops, Kiev has stepped up its attacks to target energy, military and transportation infrastructure — sectors vital to Moscow’s war effort.

Read more by Euractiv



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