Circumstances allow Ukraine's partners to send missiles without limiting range — expert Zgurets

He said this on Espreso TV.

"I hope that there will be enough votes in the Bundestag to transfer long-range Taurus missiles. And the main issue is not only the transfer of Taurus, but the transfer of Taurus with a range of 500 km. Not 300 km, with these limited factors of political importance, but with maximum capabilities. Because the appearance of North Korean missiles in the arsenal of the Russian army, which are launched from deep within the territory of the Russian Federation, allows us to raise the question that the best way to protect against Russian attacks is to strike at targets deep within Russian territory," Zgurets emphasized.

According to the military expert, there are now political circumstances that allow Ukraine to influence its partners to increase the technical parameters of long-range missiles without limiting their range characteristics. Ukraine needs long-range Taurus missiles with a range of 500 km.

Taurus missiles for Ukraine: what is known

In May, it was reported that Ukraine had asked Germany for long-range missiles.

At the end of June, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that Germany did not intend to provide Ukraine with these missiles.

In early August, it was reported that the Bundestag had reached a consensus on the transfer of Taurus missiles to Ukraine.

At the same time, the German newspaper Spiegel reported that Chancellor Olaf Scholz wants to make technical modifications to the missiles to prevent Kyiv from striking Russian territory. 

Ukraine's Ambassador to Germany, Oleksii Makeiev, spoke out against limiting the range of long-range Taurus missiles.

On August 21, the German government’s spokesman reported that providing Ukraine with Taurus missiles is not on the agenda.

On September 4, the head of the Bundestag Defense Committee, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, criticized German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for being the only one in the coalition to block the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine.

On January 15, the head of the opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Friedrich Merz, said that Germany should provide Ukraine with long-range Taurus cruise missiles that could destroy the Crimean bridge, an important logistical route for Russia.