Aboard a moving train, President Zelenskyy, wearing a dark sweater with the Ukrainian coat of arms, spoke about the potential use of missiles.
“With permission and the necessary missiles, the results will be seen on the battlefield,” he remarked, adding that they hadn’t been used that day.
Hours later, he authorized the launch of six U.S.-supplied long-range missiles into southern Russia, significantly altering the course of the over 1000-day war.
This action, foreseen as potential Western escalation by Russia, followed six months after the arrival of U.S.-made ATACMS, along with similar weaponry from Britain and France.
Zelenskyy noted Ukraine’s reliance on U.S. approval for such actions, stating that without U.S. consent, European nations wouldn’t authorize them either.
His comments followed a visit to the eastern front, where he met soldiers in Kupyansk, Kramatorsk, and Pokrovsk who reported critical shortages of ammunition and artillery shells, highlighting a shift in the war’s dynamics unfavorable to Ukraine.
The missile strikes represented a highly classified operation involving the Ukrainian military, intelligence agencies, and government, undertaken nearly three years into the conflict, with Zelenskyy remaining a primary target.
Emerging from a Pokrovsk bunker, the sounds of artillery fire underscored the proximity of combat.
“As you can hear, we are very close,” Zelenskyy observed.
Traveling onward, he contemplated his message to civilians constructing defensive trenches outside the city, as Russian forces advanced.
Facing defense challenges along the extensive frontline, his forces needed to leverage Western weaponry against advancing Russian troops.
Regarding U.S. concerns about targeting specific locations, Zelenskyy confirmed American displeasure with strikes on Russian energy infrastructure.