CNN
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Ukrainian Protection Minister Rustem Umerov advised CNN the Biden administration remains to be contemplating his request to elevate restrictions on Ukraine utilizing long-range weapons to strike deeper inside Russian territory and confirmed he’d presented a list of targets in conferences with senior officers in Washington on Friday
“Now we have defined what sort of capabilities we have to defend the residents in opposition to the Russian terror that Russians are inflicting us, so I hope we had been heard,” Umerov mentioned in an interview with CNN’s Alex Marquardt on “The Scenario Room.”
Regardless of repeated requests from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the US just isn’t at the moment anticipated to loosen restrictions on Ukraine’s use of long-range Military Tactical Missile Programs (ATACMS).
“You’ve heard us say that the Ukrainians can use US safety help to defend themselves from cross-border assaults, in different phrases counterfire. However because it pertains to long-range strike, deep strikes into Russia, our coverage has not modified,” mentioned Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder on Tuesday.
Ukraine solely has a restricted provide of US-provided long-range missiles, and the US has made it clear that Kyiv shouldn’t anticipate one other vital supply of ATACMS due to the finite quantity in US inventories and the lengthy manufacturing time of the weapon, in line with a US official.
Talking earlier than the assembly between Protection Secretary Lloyd Austin and Umerov, the US official mentioned lots of Ukraine’s excessive worth targets in Russia are exterior the vary of ATACMS. Russia’s navy has pulled its excessive worth navy belongings distant from the entrance line, together with the plane launching glide bombs which have wreaked havoc on Ukrainian targets.
However Umerov pushed again on such assessments, saying Ukraine has introduced the US a listing of targets they’d use ATACMS to strike.
“We’re exhibiting that the airfields that they’re utilizing to hit our cities are throughout the vary of deep strikes,” Umerov mentioned on CNN.
Ukraine has used its current provide of ATACMS to focus on high-value Russian belongings in occupied Crimea, together with air defenses, ammo depots and airfields. Your entire Crimean Peninsula falls inside vary of ATACMS, making it a major space to make use of the US-manufactured missile, the US official mentioned.
Umerov mentioned Ukraine is pushing to elevate the ATACMS restrictions to guard Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure.
“They’re killing our residents. That’s why we wish to deter them, we wish to cease them, we don’t need [to] enable their aviation to return nearer to our borders to bomb the cities,” mentioned Umerov.
The US stays centered on critically wanted air defenses, which the Biden administration has supplied in almost each navy support bundle. The US has additionally positioned Ukraine on the high of the precedence checklist for air defenses, the US official mentioned, diverting $2 billion in air protection belongings to Kyiv that was initially slated to go to different international locations.
Umerov additionally denied that the firing of the Ukrainian Air Power commander was related to the dying of considered one of Ukraine’s high pilots when a US-made F-16 fighter jet crashed simply days earlier.
“I might most likely say this can be a rotation,” mentioned Umerov “That is two separate points… at this stage, I might not join them.”
Zelensky didn’t say whether or not his resolution to fireplace Mykola Oleshchuk was associated to the F-16 crash on Monday, however mentioned the command degree of the Air Power wanted to “strengthen.”
Umerov referred to as the dying of the pilot “unlucky” and mentioned that Ukraine is investigating what occurred.
“We’re analyzing what has occurred,” mentioned Umerov. “We’ve additionally opened this file to our companions so they’re additionally analyzing this and investigating together with us.”
With all eyes on the Ukrainian incursion into the Russian oblast of Kursk, Umerov mentioned Ukraine is extra centered on the “capabilities” that space permits them fairly than holding the Russian territory to commerce for land Russia has captured from Ukraine.
“We’re centered to extend our capabilities to resist, to repel the Russians from the momentary occupied territories,” mentioned Umerov.
Ukraine’s high commander Oleksandr Syrskyi mentioned Friday that Ukrainian forces have superior as much as two kilometers (about 1.2 miles) additional into Kursk during the last 24 hours.
“Over the [past] day, our troops superior as much as 2 kilometers in some areas, taking management of 5 sq. kilometers of the territory,” Syrskyi advised Zelensky and different officers in a workers assembly.
However as Ukraine pushes additional into Kursk, Russian forces are slowly gaining floor in jap Ukraine, inching towards the town of Pokrovsk, a strategic metropolis that sits on a key provide highway between navy hubs. Town varieties the spine of Ukraine’s defenses within the space, a precious prize for the Russian navy, however one the Kremlin is pursuing at an especially excessive price. The US official mentioned Russia is struggling 1,000 casualties a day as they grind ahead in jap Ukraine, the best casualty fee of the battle.
Zelensky has said he intends to point out President Joe Biden a plan for victory on the United Nations Basic Meeting in September, in addition to to presidential candidates Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.