Almost every day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky calls on his allies in the West to finally get the go-ahead for attacks deep into the Russian hinterland in order to be able to attack Russian military sites with missiles. This is intended to disable aircraft before they launch their bombs towards Ukraine.
Now, according to insiders, the USA is close to an agreement on the supply of long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine.
However, the government in Kiev will have to wait several months for the missiles because the USA still has to solve technical problems before a possible delivery, several US insiders say. The decision is expected to be announced in the autumn.
The weapons are Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles (JASSM), i.e. conventional air-to-surface cruise missiles with a medium to long range.
They can be fired from aircraft at targets on the ground. Delivering JASSMs to Ukraine could significantly improve its strategic options and give it an advantage over Russia. Depending on the missile type, the JASSMs have a range of 350 to 1,800 kilometers.
This means that Russian bases appear to be within reach. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Russia has now moved 90 percent of its bombers out of the range of ATACMS missiles, but this is a matter of 300 km.(Reuters/Tsp)
