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Great Britain, France, Germany and the United States have lifted restrictions on the types of weapons that can be supplied to Ukraine, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced on May 26. (video)

The move clears the way for the EU to send its most powerful and long-range missiles to Kyiv that can strike targets deep inside Russian territory, something the allies have been reluctant to do for fears of escalating tensions with the Kremlin and possibly provoking a direct clash between Russia and Nato countries in Europe.

"There are no longer any range restrictions on weapons supplied to Ukraine, not from the British, not from the French, not from us, not from the Americans either. This means that Ukraine can now also defend itself by attacking military positions in Russia, for example,” Merz said during an interview on German television. “It couldn’t do that until some time ago, and with very few exceptions, it didn’t do that until some time ago. Now it can. In jargon, we call this long-range fire, i.e., equipping Ukraine with weapons that attack military targets in the rear.”

The decision comes the day after Russia launched a devastating missile and drone barrage on Ukraine over the weekend of May 23-25 that largely targeted civilian targets in Kyiv and many other urban centres in Ukraine – amongst the largest attacks since the war started over three years ago.

The decision also clears the way for Germany to deliver its powerful Taurus cruise missiles that Kyiv had been asking for, but Berlin had so far been reluctant to supply. Merz didn’t mention the Taurus missiles by name during his interview, but has suggested that unlike former German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, he was not against supplying Kyiv with the missile, which can hit Russian targets deep in the rear or could destroy the Kerch bridge connecting Russia to the Crimean peninsula.

    • Tar_Alcaran@sh.itjust.works
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      3 days ago

      Probably best to stick to something they can actually launch. The only ground-launched Tomahawks were nuclear weapons, and they haven’t been around since the 80s.

      On the other hand, im sure if Ukraine got a few dozen of them, they’d make it work.

      • Buelldozer@lemmy.today
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        2 days ago

        The INF went away in 2019 and the Typhon system entered service in 2023 so…ground launched Tomahawks are back on the menu.

      • Melchior@feddit.org
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        2 days ago

        The US Marines for the Long-Range Missile Battery, which is a ground based system able to launch Tomahawks. Basically a Mk41 on a truck.

      • Mihies@programming.dev
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        2 days ago

        Sure, Ukraine would improvise :) OTOH aren’t there also sea-launched ones? Shouldn’t be hard to adopt those.

        • Tar_Alcaran@sh.itjust.works
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          2 days ago

          As another poster replied: There are land-based launchers for (modified) Tomahawks, in the Typhon. What works against chinese ships would probably also work fine against russian surface sites (with a different type of cruise missile, probably)