MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th October, 2022) Ukraine has renewed request that the United States provide ATACMS long-range ballistic missiles after its infrastructure was targeted in Russian airstrikes, US Foreign Policy magazine reported on Tuesday.
Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that the US refused to transfer ATACMS missiles, with a range of up to 300 kilometers (186 miles), to Ukraine due to disagreements over possible strikes on targets in Crimea, despite Kiev's persistent requests. Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov told Sputnik that the start of deliveries of such missiles to Ukraine could be interpreted as direct US involvement in a military conflict with Russia.
According to Foreign Policy's report, Ukrainian parliament speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk sent on Monday letters to US Congress leaders, reiterating the request for the delivery of ATACMS missiles, Gray Eagle reconnaissance and strike drones and F-15 and F-16 fighter jets.
The Ukrainian authorities also recognized that the country would need more air and missile defense systems, and quickly, the magazine noted.
"NASAMS Ground Air Defense Systems are crucial to secure critical civil and military infrastructure from Russian cruise missiles and bombings, while Land-Based Phalanx Weapon System (C-RAM) would allow for the closest point protection of the most important objects, especially crucial power plants," Stefanchuk wrote in the letter cited in the report.
On Monday, Russia carried out strikes using precision-guided weapons against Ukrainian infrastructure intended for military supplies and connectivity in response to the crimes committed by Kiev against the Russian civilian infrastructure, President Vladimir Putin told Russia's Security Council.
In particular, the Russian leader condemned Saturday's explosion on the Crimean Bridge as a terrorist attack aimed at destroying Russian civilian infrastructure. Putin said that Ukraine had also carried out three terrorist attacks against the Kursk nuclear power plant and had attempted to damage the TurkStream gas pipeline.
Ukraine reported airstrikes and explosions in Kiev and the Kiev Region, as well as in Kharkiv, Odesa, Dnipro, Lviv and its vicinity, and the Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil, Khmelnytskyi, Konotop, Rivne and Poltava regions. According to the Ukrainian government, attacks were also carried out against energy facilities in Zaporizhzhia, Vinnytsia, Sumy, and Zhytomyr.
In addition, a series of explosions took place across Ukraine on Tuesday. Some of them are believed to be the air defense systems in operation.
