The Telegraph: Hitting military bases inside Russia is fair, say Ukrainian soldiers

If Russians are using their weapons in Ukraine, then it should be fair for Kyiv forces to strike Russian territory. It doesn’t mean Ukrainian troops are going to use the weapons against civilian targets, just military targets, Ukrainian soldiers who fight in Vovchansk told The Telegraph. In conversations with the newspaper, Ukrainian defenders were unanimous that Joe Biden had now made the right decision, albeit belatedly, to give Ukraine permission to use US-supplied HIMARS to strike inside Russia. They said that Ukrainian commanders knew where key Russian targets across the border were located but had been unable to strike them due to limits on the strikes. Ukrainian soldiers predicted that hitting logistics, air bases, artillery, and bases would badly prevent Russians from advancing deeper into Kharkiv Oblast. Since the ban on HIMARS use was eased, Ukraine launched attacks on Belgorod city, used by the invaders as a military base for strikes on Ukrainian objects and civilians. Despite the influx of Western ammunition beginning to reach Ukrainian lines after a lengthy political hold-up to US supplies, Ukraine’s forces are still heavily outgunned.

“If we use ten shells, they send 50 back,” said one artillery gunner.

He predicted that allowing strikes inside Russia would be beneficial, though he noted that cross-border strikes would likely constitute a small portion of Ukraine’s overall targeting.

"We need to kill Russians so they don’t come here," one of the soldiers claimed.

Ukrainian troops still face the threat of Russian artillery superiority and glide bombs, which can be launched by Russian jets from beyond the range of Ukraine’s air defenses.

Read also:

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• Bundestag defense chair backs Germany’s decision to allow Ukraine to strike Russian military targets
• Western permission for strikes inside Russia stops S-300 attacks on Kharkiv for days
• Russian attack on Dnipro overnight injures 7 people, including one-month-old baby, 17-year-old boy