Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is calling on the West to lift restrictions on the use of long-range weapons to strike deep inside Russian territory — after Moscow unleashed more than 200 missiles and drones on Ukraine, striking over half the country.
Zelensky condemned Monday’s onslaught that saw one of the largest missile and drone barrages hit 15 Ukrainian regions, killing at least four people and causing rolling blackouts over damaged energy facilities.
The president said the strike — using drones, cruise missiles and hypersonic ballistic Kinzhal missiles — was the latest evidence that Kyiv needs its allies in the West to provide long-range weapons to retaliate and decimate Russia’s military facilities.
“There cannot be long-range restrictions in Ukraine, when terrorists do not have such restrictions,” Zelensky said on Telegram. “America, Britain, France, other partners have the power to help us stop terror.”
The Russian attack was carried out in two waves, with Ukrainian officials suggesting it was primarily aimed at the country’s energy infrastructure.
The damage caused officials to open “points of invincibility,” shelters where civilians could charge their phones and devices amid the mass blackouts.
Despite the blows the nation suffered Monday, there is little evidence that the West will lift the restrictions on the weapons it provides Ukraine.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters Monday that there are still no changes to the guidelines on the weapons it provides and their approved use.
Earlier this year, President Biden approved some Western-made weapons to be used to strike Russia, but only in the Kharkiv region, which was seeing some of the most intense fighting of the war at the time.
Ukraine has been able to strike Russian airfields and power infrastructure, but the attacks are limited to its own drones, with Andriy Yermak, Zelensky’s chief of staff, describing them as not enough.
“Permission to strike with Western weapons deep into the territory of the Russian Federation, this is necessary,” Yermak said in a statement.
“We do it ourselves. But such a decision will speed up the end of Russian terror,” he added.
Following Monday’s attack, Yermak vowed that Ukraine would retaliate in kind against the Kremlin.
“The desire to destroy our energy will cost the Russians dearly: their infrastructure,” Yermak said.
