Map See how far the Ukrainian military could reach if it were allowed to use Western long-range missiles in Russia

The United States, France and the United Kingdom have been supplying such weapons to the Ukrainian army since 2023, but refuse to allow kyiv to use them against Russian territory.

Discussions that could change the pace of the conflict in Ukraine. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was due to speak on Friday, September 13 in Washington with US President Joe Biden about the possibility of authorizing kyiv to use long-range missiles against Russia. Kiev has been demanding for several months that its allies lift restrictions to allow it to strike deep into Russian soil at military targets deemed “legitimate”like air bases from which planes take off to bomb Ukraine.

The United States, France and the United Kingdom have been supplying the Ukrainian army with long-range missiles since 2023, but have prohibited Kiev from using them against Russian territory. These are mainly ATACMS missiles (supplied by the United States, some with a range of 300 km), but also Storm Shadows (sent by the United Kingdom, with a range of 250 km) and Scalps (from France, with a range of around 250 km). For the time being, these precision missiles have, for example, been launched against installations in Crimea.

To understand the stakes of this negotiation, we must look at the map of Russian military bases. At the end of August, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a research center based in the United States, published a map of nearly 250 Russian military installations within range of missiles delivered by the West. Air bases, communications equipment, regiments, oil depots… We have represented these 245 strategic points, compiled in open source by the think tank, in the map below, as well as the area concerned by the maximum range of Ukrainian missiles.

For the Ukrainian military, the most strategic Russian facilities to destroy could be the air defenses and air bases, which appear on this map. But also the railway lines, which allow Moscow to transport equipment to the combat zones. The challenge for Kiev is to present to its allies a plan of the targets in Russia. For now, the Ukrainian military can only strike the Russian interior with locally manufactured missiles or drones.

Vladimir Putin has said that allowing Ukraine to strike Russian territory with longer-range missiles would mean that “NATO countries are at war with Russia”Any changes in the rules should result in a response. “appropriate”the Kremlin added. “Every such decision taken by the West is further proof of the justified, necessary and unconventional nature of the special operation.” in Ukraine, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday, according to comments reported by AFP.

In June, Moscow had already pointed the finger at the United States, after the firing of several ATACMS missiles in Crimea, which, according to the governor installed by Moscow, caused three deaths, including two children, and around a hundred injuries. “Responsibility for the deliberate missile strike against civilians in Sevastopol [ville de Crimée] “The main responsibility lies with Washington, which supplied these weapons to Ukraine.” as well as to the authorities in kyiv, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement quoted by AFP.

In the meantime, several anonymous American military sources have been indicating for several weeks that the Russian army is redeploying several installations outside the attack perimeter of Ukrainian missiles. Thus, “90% of planes can drop gliding bombs” in Ukraine from Russian airspace have already been moved out of range of these shots, an expert told Politico on August 23.