Yuri Ignat, spokesperson for the Air Force, stated during a telethon that Russian occupiers cannot defend the temporarily occupied Crimea from Ukrainian attacks because their air defense system is unable to handle cruise missiles of Western production.
“We have the weapons we needed. These are cruise missiles. Like the X-101, for example, which Russia has been using against us since the beginning of the war, only better. The enemy cannot intercept these missiles, despite them having ‘unparalleled air defense,'” Ignat said.
He added that Russian air defense manages to intercept some Ukrainian missiles, but “as we see from the results, the missiles reach their target, and Crimea, equipped with air defense systems, cannot cope with Western-made missiles.”
Responding to the assumptions of Russian occupiers that the strike on the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol was carried out by American long-range ATACMS missiles, Ignat said: “I think it would have been evident that it was ATACMS because cruise missiles and ballistic missiles have different flight trajectories and strike consequences.”
He expressed confidence that Washington will indeed provide Kiev with the desired long-range weaponry, as there are increasingly more reports suggesting that it will happen.
“It’s not just about ATACMS but also about German Taurus. Everything will come,” the Air Force spokesperson noted.
Officially, the United States has not announced a decision to supply ATACMS to Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky stated on September 22 that Ukraine is still working on obtaining long-range weapons from its allies.
Note: ATACMS stands for the American Tactical Missile System, a short-range ballistic missile system. Different ATACMS variants have a range from 165 to 310 km. So far, Ukraine has received HIMARS munitions with a range of 70-80 km. The Ukrainian Armed Forces use HIMARS for strikes on Russian logistics facilities, headquarters, and other targets in the rear.