NATO military committee chair, others back Ukraine’s use of long range weapons to strike back at Russia

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Updated 15 September 2024
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NATO military committee chair, others back Ukraine’s use of long range weapons to strike back at Russia

  • “Every nation that is attacked has the right to defend itself," Admiral Rob Bauer said during a meeting of the committee
  • The comment came as some of Ukraine’s major donors continue to put waver on the issue

PRAGUE: The head of NATO’s military committee said Saturday that Ukraine has the solid legal and military right to strike deep inside Russia to gain combat advantage — reflecting the beliefs of a number of US allies — even as the Biden administration balks at allowing Kyiv to do so using American-made weapons.
“Every nation that is attacked has the right to defend itself. And that right doesn’t stop at the border of your own nation,” said Admiral Rob Bauer, speaking at the close of the committee’s annual meeting, also attended by US Gen. CQ Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Bauer, of Netherlands, also added that nations have the sovereign right to put limits on the weapons they send to Ukraine. But, standing next to him at a press briefing, Lt. Gen. Karel Řehka, chief of the General Staff of the Czech Armed Forces, made it clear his nation places no such weapons restrictions on Kyiv.
“We believe that the Ukrainians should decide themselves how to use it,” Řehka said.
Their comments came as US President Joe Biden is weighing whether to allow Ukraine to use American-provided long-range weapons to hit deep into Russia. And they hint at the divisions over the issue.
Biden met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday, after this week’s visit to Kyiv by their top diplomats, who came under fresh pressure to loosen weapons restrictions. US officials familiar with discussions said they believed Starmer was seeking Biden’s approval to allow Ukraine to use British Storm Shadow missiles for expanded strikes in Russia.




Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy meets with Admiral Rob Bauer, chairman of NATO's military committee, in Kyiv on March 21, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS)

Biden’s approval may be needed because Storm Shadow components are made in the US The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to share the status of private conversations, said they believed Biden would be amenable, but there has been no decision announced yet.
Providing additional support and training for Ukraine was a key topic at the NATO chiefs’ meeting, but it wasn’t clear Saturday if the debate over the US restrictions was discussed.
Many of the European nations have been vigorously supportive of Ukraine in part because they worry about being the next victim of an empowered Russia.
At the opening of the meeting, Czech Republic President Petr Pavel broadly urged the military chiefs gathered in the room to be ”bold and open in articulating your assessments and recommendations. The rounder and the softer they are, the less they will be understood by the political level.”
The allies, he said, must “take the right steps and the right decisions to protect our countries and our way of life.”
The military leaders routinely develop plans and recommendations that are then sent to the civilian NATO defense secretaries for discussion and then on to the nations’ leaders in the alliance.
The US allows Ukraine to use American-provided weapons in cross-border strikes to counter attacks by Russian forces. But it doesn’t allow Kyiv to fire long-range missiles, such as the ATACMS, deep into Russia. The US has argued that Ukraine has drones that can strike far and should use ATACMS judiciously because they only have a limited number.
Ukraine has increased its pleas with Washington to lift the restrictions, particularly as winter looms and Kyiv worries about Russian gains during the colder months.
“You want to weaken the enemy that attacks you in order to not only fight the arrows that come your way, but also attack the archer that is, as we see, very often operating from Russia proper into Ukraine,” said Bauer. “So militarily, there’s a good reason to do that, to weaken the enemy, to weaken its logistic lines, fuel, ammunition that comes to the front. That is what you want to stop, if at all possible.”
Brown, for his part, told reporters traveling with him to the meeting that the US policy on long-range weapons remains in place.
But, he added, “by the same token, what we want to do is — regardless of that policy — we want to continue to make Ukraine successful with the capabilities that have been provided” by the US and other nations in the coalition, as well as the weapons Kyiv has been able to build itself.
“They’ve proven themselves fairly effective in building out uncrewed aerial vehicles, in building out drones,” Brown told reporters traveling with him to meetings in Europe.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has made similar points, arguing that one weapons system won’t determine success in the war.
“There are a number of things that go into the overall equation as to whether or not you know you want to provide one capability or another,” Austin said Friday. “There is no silver bullet when it comes to things like this.”
He also noted that Ukraine has already been able to strike inside Russia with its own internally produced systems, including drones.


Heavy gunfire erupts in South Sudan’s capital Juba

Updated 57 min 45 sec ago
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Heavy gunfire erupts in South Sudan’s capital Juba

  • The gunfire began around 7 p.m. local time and continued sporadically for more than an hour before dying down
  • Analysts said the sacking of Akol Koor reflected a power struggle at the highest levels of government

NAIROBI: Heavy gunfire erupted in South Sudan’s capital Juba on Thursday evening after security forces moved to arrest the former head of the intelligence service, according to Reuters reporters and an alert sent to United Nations staff.
The gunfire began around 7 p.m. local time (1700 GMT) and continued sporadically for more than an hour before dying down, Reuters reporters said.
A UN safety alert to staff members in Juba, seen by Reuters, said the shooting was related to the arrest of the former head of the National Security Service (NSS). It urged UN staff to shelter in place.
In early October, President Salva Kiir dismissed Akol Koor Kuc, who had led the NSS since the country’s independence from Sudan in 2011, and appointed a close ally to replace him.
Reached by telephone, a military spokesperson said he was trying to establish what was going on.
Analysts said the sacking of Akol Koor reflected a power struggle at the highest levels of government. It came weeks after the transitional government that Kiir leads announced that elections expected in December would be postponed for a second time.
Rival factions loyal to Kiir and First Vice President Riek Machar fought a civil war from 2013 to 2018 that resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths.
The two have governed together since then as part of a transitional government. There has been relative peace, but the opposing forces clash periodically in addition to frequent fighting among a patchwork of armed groups in rural areas.


Putin says hit Ukraine with new mid-range ballistic missile

Updated 21 November 2024
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Putin says hit Ukraine with new mid-range ballistic missile

  • Putin said in a televised address that Russia carried out “testing in combat conditions of one of the newest Russian mid-range missile systems”
  • Russia struck the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro with a barrage of missiles early Thursday

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that the country’s forces had hit Ukraine with a new mid-range ballistic missile.
Putin said in a televised address that Russia carried out “testing in combat conditions of one of the newest Russian mid-range missile systems... Our engineers named it Oreshnik,” which means hazel tree in Russian.
Russia struck the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro with a barrage of missiles early Thursday.
The Ukrainian air force and President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of apparently using an intercontinental ballistic missile, while Ukrainian experts were still examining the evidence to ascertain the type of missile used.
Putin said in his address that Russia launched a combined strike on a defense industry target in Ukraine.
He described Oreshnik as a “ballistic missile” that was deployed in this case “in a non-nuclear hypersonic configuration,” saying that the “test” had been successful and had hit its target.
Air defenses cannot intercept the Oreshnik, which attacks at a speed of Mach 10, or 2.5-3 kilometers per second, Putin said.
“Modern air defense systems... cannot intercept such missiles. That’s impossible,” he said.
“As of today there are no means of counteracting such a weapon,” the president boasted.
He said Russia was testing the Oreshnik in combat conditions “in response to the aggressive actions of NATO countries toward Russia.”


UK urged to honor ICC’s arrest warrants against Israeli leaders

Updated 21 November 2024
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UK urged to honor ICC’s arrest warrants against Israeli leaders

  • Warrants issued on Thursday against Israel’s ministers, officials of Hamas

LONDON: The British government has been urged by the Council for Arab-British Understanding to immediately honor International Criminal Court arrest warrants issued against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

The ICC issued the warrants on Thursday for Netanyahu, Gallant, and an official of Hamas, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity over the war in Gaza and the attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, that triggered Israel’s offensive in the Palestinian territory.

CAABU director Chris Doyle emphasized the gravity of the situation, accusing the UK government of failing to hold Israel accountable for its actions in violation of international law.

Doyle said: “This decision highlights how woefully the UK government has handled the situation of Israeli atrocities and war crimes.

“It now must demonstrate, with concrete action, that this government will honor its pledge to uphold respect for international law and the ICC by abiding in full with the ICC decision.”

Doyle also called for immediate measures, including a full arms embargo on Israel, the cessation of military and security cooperation, and an end to arms sales while atrocities were allegedly being carried out in Gaza.

CAABU warned that failure to comply with the ICC’s warrants could severely damage the UK’s international standing, making it complicit in alleged crimes against humanity, including forced displacement, apartheid, and genocide.

“The UK’s reputation globally would be trashed,” Doyle cautioned.

The organization stressed that the ICC’s warrants represented a crucial step toward justice and accountability for Palestinians. However, Doyle stressed the need for swift action.

He said: “There is no time to wait; justice delayed is justice denied. The UK needs to uphold international law, accountability, and ensure justice with immediate effect by complying with these arrest warrants.”

The UK government has yet to issue a formal response to the ICC’s decision.


UK says it respects ICC independence as court issues arrest warrants

Updated 21 November 2024
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UK says it respects ICC independence as court issues arrest warrants

  • PM Keir Starmer’s spokesperson said: “We remain focused on pushing for an immediate ceasefire to bring an end to the devastating violence in Gaza”

LONDON: Britain respects the independence of the International Criminal Court, Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s spokesperson said on Thursday, after it issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his ex-defense chief and a Hamas leader.
“We respect the independence of the International Criminal Court, which is the primary international institution for investigating and prosecuting the most serious crimes of international concern,” the spokesperson told reporters.
“There is no moral equivalence between Israel, a democracy, and Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah, which are terrorist organizations. We remain focused on pushing for an immediate ceasefire to bring an end to the devastating violence in Gaza.”


Russia fires what appears to be intercontinental ballistic missile at Ukraine, Kyiv says

Updated 21 November 2024
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Russia fires what appears to be intercontinental ballistic missile at Ukraine, Kyiv says

  • Western officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, later told Reuters their initial analysis showed it was not an intercontinental ballistic missile
  • Regardless of its classification, the latest strike highlighted rapidly rising tensions in the 33-month-old war

KYIV: Ukraine said Russia fired what appeared to be an intercontinental ballistic missile at the city of Dnipro on Thursday, in what would be the first use in war of a weapon designed to deliver long-distance nuclear strikes.
Western officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, later told Reuters their initial analysis showed it was not an intercontinental ballistic missile, though they left open the possibility that conclusion could change.
Regardless of its classification, the latest strike highlighted rapidly rising tensions in the 33-month-old war.
Ukraine fired US and British missiles at targets inside Russia this week despite warnings by Moscow that it would see such action as a major escalation.
Security experts said that if Thursday’s strike involved an intercontinental ballistic missile, it would be the first use of such a missile in war. ICBMs are strategic weapons designed to deliver nuclear warheads and are an important part of Russia’s nuclear deterrent.
“Today there was a new Russian missile. All the characteristics – speed, altitude – are (of an) intercontinental ballistic (missile). An expert (investigation) is currently underway,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video statement.
Ukraine’s foreign ministry urged the international community to react swiftly to the use of what it said was “the use by Russia of a new type of weaponry.”
The Ukrainian air force said the missile was fired from the Russian region of Astrakhan, more than 700 km (435 miles) from Dnipro in central-eastern Ukraine. It did not specify what kind of warhead the missile had or what type of missile it was. There was no suggestion it was nuclear-armed.
Asked about the air force statement, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters to contact Russian military for comment.
Ukrainska Pravda, a Kyiv-based media outlet, cited anonymous sources saying the missile was an RS-26 Rubezh, a solid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of 5,800 km, according to the Arms Control Association.
The RS-26 was first successfully tested in 2012, and is estimated to be 12 meters (40 ft) long and weigh 36 tons, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). It said the RS-26 can carry an 800-kg (1,765-pound)nuclear warhead.
The RS-26 is classified as an ICBM under a nuclear arms reduction treaty between the United States and Russia, but it can be seen as an intermediate-range ballistic missile when used with heavier payloads at ranges below 5,500 km, CSIS said.