Ukraine is pressuring Germany to provide long-range missiles capable of hitting Moscow

Long-range Taurus cruise missiles will allow Ukraine to target Moscow

Ukraine has asked Germany to supply it with long-range Taurus cruise missiles missiles, capable of hitting Moscow.

Vladimir Zelensky requested missiles designed to destroy heavily fortified «valuable» enemy targets during his trip to Berlin in early May, according to German media.

According to reports , he used Ukrainian Storm Shadow cruise missiles from the UK, which have a slightly shorter range of about 215 miles, to put pressure on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Since May, Ukraine has used Storm Shadow to strike Russian supply depots and command posts deep behind the front lines in occupied territory.

The Taurus missile can deliver a warhead weighing nearly half a ton, about the size of a Storm Shadow, against a hardened target up to 310 miles away. Moscow is 280 miles from the border with Ukraine.

Matthia Nelles, a German political scientist who advises German MPs on Ukraine, said that although Ukraine has promised not to strike targets in Russia, this extra range worries the leadership Germany. .

“There are unresolved issues regarding the sharing of confidential data on targets and, more importantly, the political question of whether the German government is ready to provide Ukraine with a powerful weapon with which it can strike at Moscow,” he said.

Swedish — Designed and manufactured in Germany, the missile is considered advanced compared to conventional missiles.

Swedish arms manufacturer Saab Bofors Dynamics has teamed up with MBDA Deutschland to develop the Taurus missile. He described it as «an incomparable modular anti-tank missile system.»

“It is capable of delivering targeted strikes against stationary and semi-stationary targets, including bunkers and other fortified, deeply buried targets, as well as against important point and area targets, such as large radar stations,” the message says.

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Taurus missiles were first made in 2005. Germany bought more of them, and the Spanish and South Korean air forces also placed orders for weapons.

After launch, two stabilizing wings are deployed to help the huge Taurus rocket fly to its target at a relatively low altitude.

< p>Germany was initially worried about arms supplies to Ukraine, but under pressure from increasingly heavy British and American supplies, it relentlessly relented and has now sent Leopard tanks and the Patriot missile defense system.

The West has increased the technological levels of its arms supplies to Ukraine. This month, Ukraine's allies said they would begin training Ukrainian pilots in F16 fighter jets.