Ukraine defense minister presses US to allow use of long-range weapons on Russia

Ukraine Defense Minister Rustem Umerov pressed U.S. officials Friday to allow Kyiv to employ long-range weapons in its counteroffensive against Russia.

Umerov, during an interview with CNN’s Alex Marquardt, said Ukraine has presented a list of targets to U.S. senior officials and hopes Washington will lift the restriction on the use of the Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS).

“We provided the situation on the battlefield,” Umerov told Marquardt Friday evening on “The Situation Room.”

“We have explained the needs. We have explained what kind of capabilities we need to protect the citizens against that Russian terror that Russians are causing us,” he added. “So, I hope we were heard.”

Ukraine’s recent offensive in the Kursk region, which began earlier this month, has put more pressure on the Biden administration to remove the restriction, which bars Kyiv from using U.S.-made weapons in its counteroffensive against Russia. The push caught the Kremlin, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, by surprise and allowed the Ukrainian military to capture some 500 miles of territory in the area.

The military has used missiles and drones to destroy Russia’s air bases. But despite its incursion, Ukraine has still struggled to deal with Moscow’s precision-guided glide bombs, per the official.

“They’re killing our citizens,” Umerov said Friday. “That’s why we want to deter them, we want to stop them, we don’t want [to] allow their aviation to come closer to our borders to bomb the cities.” 

Kyiv has a small batch of long-range missiles given by Washington earlier this year, CNN reported, citing a U.S. official. But, the outlet noted, the war-torn country should not anticipate another supply of ATACMS due to the time it takes to manufacture the weapon and the current short supply in the United States.

The interview came the same day Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky fired his air force commander — a decision that came shortly after a pilot crashed an F-16 plane that was supplied by the U.S. When asked on Friday about the ousting, Umerov denied that the decision was related to the recent crash. 

“I would probably say this is a rotation, but it is unfortunate,” he said, adding that the pilot’s death was also “unfortunate. “

“We’ve launched an investigation. We’re analyzing what has happened,” Umerov, who was in Washington Friday for a meeting with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and other defense officials, added. “We also opened this file to our partners, so they are also analyzing this and investigating along with us.”