Ukraine claims to have developed a new long-range missile capable of striking deep into Russian territory.
The announcement was made by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, just a day after several regions in Russia were hit by powerful missile strikes.
Through his official Telegram channel, the president said the new weapon system had successfully hit a target 700 kilometers (435 miles) away using a missile “of our own production.”
His statement coincides with a Moscow report about a barrage of missile attacks against an airport near its borders with Estonia and Latvia, which reportedly damaged four Russian military transport planes.
An attack was also reported in the central Pskov region, which is approximately 400 miles (644 kilometers) from Ukraine.
Despite revealing that it now has a long-range missile, Kyiv has not taken credit for the recent attacks on Russian territories.
‘Already Feeling the Effect’
Ukraine’s new missile was reportedly developed by the Ministry of Strategic Industries even before the full-scale Russian invasion began.
Oleksiy Danilov, the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, revealed that the unnamed weapon could travel farther and reach up to 930 miles (1,496 kilometers).
He further stated that the missile will only target factories and military facilities in Russia, not civilians.
“All this will have its results, taking into account the fact that we do not attack civilian objects of the Russian Federation — schools, kindergartens — as the terrorist country does,” Danilov said, adding that Moscow is “already feeling the effect” of the new missiles.
Calls for Long-Range Weapons
Since last year, Zelensky has been calling on Ukraine’s allies to provide long-range weapons to counter Russia’s aggression.
The US initially rejected the request over fears that the missile would be used to strike deep into Russia and widen the conflict.
However, a US Senator disclosed in June that there is a high probability that President Joe Biden will approve sending the long-range Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) to Kyiv.
The weapon can reportedly strike targets more than 200 miles (321 kilometers) away.
Germany was also considering technical modifications to its 500-kilometer (310-mile) range Taurus missiles before possibly sending them to the war-torn nation.
