If the West wants to defeat Ukraine, it must allow it to carry out symmetrical strikes against military targets deep inside Russian territory, said French military expert and air defense consultant Xavier Titelman in an interview with Ukrinform. quoted by BTA.
He added that in parallel with the authorization of strikes, the delivery of the necessary number of long-range missiles should be carried out to have an effect on a strategic scale for the course of the war.
„The West should allow the use of strike weapons deep inside Russia. Until the Ukrainians are allowed to strike symmetrically, they will inevitably be thrown off balance. "The Russians know their air bases are safe when they are located 250 km from the front line," he said.
The expert highlighted the ingenuity of Ukrainian developers of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which can fly more than 2,000 km and hit their target, and the amount of explosive material is sufficient for an effective attack on command posts, bunkers, bridges and underground ammunition depots.
„For this purpose, warheads weighing more than 100 kilograms are needed, and this is provided that we can use, for example, American, French or British missiles. This will have a strategic impact on Russian logistics and Russian potential”, Titelman said.
According to him, the long-range missiles that France is currently supplying to Ukraine cannot be mounted on the F-16. However, it is not known whether the Americans will agree to equip these fighters with similar types of weapons.
„At the moment we do not know if the Americans will agree to supply them with cruise missiles. France produces them, but they are not compatible with the F-16, but fit the few old planes that are in service in Ukraine,” he said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at the last meeting of the Contact Group for the provision of defense assistance to Ukraine called on the partners to provide the country with the necessary number of long-range weapons and to allow their use not only on the occupied territory, but also on the territory of Russia.