Kyiv, Ukraine – Washington’s decision to let Kyiv use high-precision Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMSs) to strike targets in Russia came “too late”, says Vitaly, a wounded Ukrainian serviceman who needs crutches to get around central Kyiv.He thinks that outgoing United States President Joe Biden “should have let us use them without any limits two years ago”.
“We were chasing the Russians out of [the eastern region of] Kharkiv, and could have brought the war to them, to their territory,” the fair-haired 29-year-old told Al Jazeera, withholding his last name in accordance with wartime regulations.
Since then, Moscow has mobilised hundreds of thousands of men, boosted arms production, secured the supply of weaponry from Iran and North Korea, and bypassed Western sanctions to import dual-purpose items such as chips used in drones.
“It’s too late, because now, Russians are emboldened. Their economy works for the war, their people are zombified into enlisting and get loads of money for it, and we are losing a little every day,” Vitaly said.
Washington provided the first ATACMS long-range ballistic missiles to Ukraine last year but did not let Kyiv use them for strikes deep inside Russia.
Biden’s decision was reported by several Western media outlets on Sunday. The White House and the Pentagon have refused to confirm it.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video address that “strikes are not made with words”.
“Such things are not announced. The missiles will speak for themselves,” he said.
The Krem …
