President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine is working on developing and building its own long-range missiles.
“Our missile program is showing good momentum, and although it is a challenging task, we are gradually approaching the possibility of using our own missiles, and not just relying on missiles supplied by our partners,” he said in his evening video address .
He said Ukraine needs to think about “our own solutions, our own options,” even as it relies on Western military support to combat invading Russian forces.
Ukraine’s missile program does not start from scratch. The country was the main missile production center during the Soviet era.
New types of missiles were introduced after fighting broke out in eastern Ukraine between government troops and pro-Russian separatists in 2014.
Furthermore, a Ukrainian attack sank the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the Moskva, in April 2022. According to Kiev’s report, Ukrainian-made missiles with a range of almost 300 kilometers hit the ship.
Ukraine is not allowed to use Western weapons to fire on targets deep within Russian territory, in part because Europeans and Americans fear doing so could draw them into war.
To get around this ban, Zelensky not only wants to increase missile production, but also design missiles with greater range.
So far, Moscow still has a clear advantage in missile firepower.
