Ukraine has developed weapons technology capable of striking targets up to 400 miles away, according to officials.
President Volodymr Zelenskyy announced the breakthrough Thursday, just a day after a bombardment of strikes deep into Russian territory.
Zelenskyy said via his official Telegram channel that the new long-range weaponry was developed by the nation’s Ministry of Strategic Industries.
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Ukraine hit several regions in Russia Wednesday, including an airport near the border with Estonia and Latvia that damaged military transport planes, as well as strikes on the central Pskov region and the city of Kaluga that destroyed a fuel depot and a microelectronics factory, the BBC reported.
Pskov is approximately 400 miles from Ukraine, lending credence to Zelenskyy’s announcement of long-range capabilities.
However, Ukrainian officials have not taken credit for the attacks and have not commented directly on any potential involvement.
Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s minister of digital transformation, told AP recently that he has seen “news about long-range drones that hit various targets both in occupied Crimea and in the territory of Russia” and that his country has produced drones capable of such strikes.
The long-range warfare has given momentum to a floundering Ukrainian military strategy.
Kyiv launched a counteroffensive in June – a little over 15 months since the invasion started – but made little immediate progress. Reports from both sides indicate that Ukraine has started to gain some momentum, hitting valuable Russian military assets and starting to strike targets within Russia itself.
Ukrainian leaders have fought back against criticism from allies toward the slow progress in the nation’s push to reclaim invaded territory.
“Criticizing the slow pace of [the] counteroffensive equals […] spitting into the face of [the] Ukrainian soldier who sacrifices his life every day, moving forward and liberating one kilometer of Ukrainian soil after another,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba said on Thursday.
“I would recommend all critics to shut up, come to Ukraine and try to liberate one square centimeter by themselves,” Zelenskyy said at a European Union foreign ministers meeting.
Fox News Digital’s Peter Aiken contributed to this report.
