If Vladimir Putin has one objective before starting peace negotiations when Donald Trump is in the White House, it is to dislodge the Ukrainian troops who occupy part of Russian territory in the Kursk region. However, Joe Biden’s authorization to use American “long-range” missiles against targets in Russia could help Kyiv’s soldiers on this front, underlines a former senior military officer.
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“I think we should not be hypnotized by the word “long range” because Ukraine has already launched drones at distances of 1,280 km,” first puts retired brigadier general Gaston into perspective. Côté, in an interview on the show The Balance Sheet.
The ATACMS missiles launched by the American-built HIMARS multiple rocket launcher system can have a range of 250 km, and even 300 km. However, even if their range is less than that of some Ukrainian drones, the firepower of ATACMS is much more lethal.
“These systems allow them to have a much greater volume of fire than drones. That’s the big difference, he informs. They can saturate an entire sector very quickly.”
“That’s what’s practical with this weapon system,” adds Mr. Côté. This is because if you have concentrations of troops, the ammunition can be deployed, in fact deploy small bombs which allow at that moment to saturate a sector.
And in the Kursk region, Ukrainian troops could use these weapons to strike concentrations of Russian soldiers or the ammunition depots that supply them to slow down their attacks.
“Beyond that, you can also send this to airports, which would then prevent the use of these airports for war purposes against Ukraine,” specifies the military man.
But even with this new authorization, Moscow remains barely accessible for Ukrainians, although bombarding the Russian capital with salvos of missiles is not necessarily a profitable strategy for Ukraine.
“They could barely reach the suburbs of Moscow,” says Mr. Côté. But it’s still very far away, obviously, and it largely exceeds the capacity of these missiles.”
Watch the interview with Gaston Côté in the video above.
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