Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov on Friday pressed U.S. officials to allow Kiev to use long-range weapons in a counterattack against Russia.
Umerov, Interview CNN's Alex Marquardt said Ukraine has presented a list of targets to US officials and wants the US to lift restrictions on the use of the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS).
“We communicated the situation on the battlefield,” Umerov told Markuart on “The Situation Room” on Friday night.
“We explained the need, we explained what capabilities we need to protect our people from Russian terrorism that the Russians are perpetrating,” he added, “so I hope that our voices have been heard.”
The Biden administration is under further pressure to lift restrictions that prohibit the use of U.S.-made weapons in counterattacks against Russia due to a recent offensive in Ukraine's Kursk region that began earlier this month. The move surprised the Kremlin and Russian President Vladimir Putin and allowed Ukrainian forces to seize about 500 miles of territory in the region.
The military has used missiles and drones to destroy Russian airbases, but despite the incursion, officials say Ukraine is struggling to counter Moscow's precision-guided glide bombs.
“They are killing our people,” Umerov said Friday. “That’s why we want to deter and stop them. [to] We will allow their planes to approach our borders and bomb our cities.”
CNN reported, citing US officials, that Kiev received a small number of long-range missiles from Washington earlier this year, but the outlet noted that war-torn Kiev should not expect to receive any ATACMS because the weapons take time to produce and domestic supplies in the US are currently in short supply.
The interview came on the same day that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky fired his air force commander. The decision came shortly after the pilot of a U.S.-supplied F-16 fighter jet crashed. Asked about the firing on Friday, Umerov denied that the decision was related to the recent crash.
“You could say this is due to shift work but it's unfortunate,” he said, adding that the pilot's death was also “unfortunate.”
“We have launched an investigation. We are analyzing what happened,” added Umerov, who was in Washington on Friday for talks with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and other defense officials. “We have also released the file to our partners, so they are also analyzing it and investigating it with us.”
