RT-Engels: 29-05-2025,
Ukraine cannot operate the long-range missile without German assistance, a top lawmaker has said
Russia could authorize strikes inside Germany if Ukraine receives and attacks it with German Taurus cruise missiles, a senior Russian lawmaker has warned. State Duma Defense Committee chairman Andrey Kartapolov insists that the weapon requires German military assistance to operate.
Speculation that Germany could supply Ukraine with Taurus missiles, which can potentially reach Moscow, reemerged earlier this week after Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that Berlin and its partners had allowed Kiev to use Western weapons without any range restrictions.
When asked by journalists on Wednesday about possible deliveries of the weapon, Merz replied that they are “possible,” adding that Ukrainian troops would require “several months of training” to be able to launch them.
Kartapolov told the Life.ru outlet on Wednesday that Russia is “ready for everything” and will respond to the possible shipments of Taurus missiles to Kiev.
“We are ready to shoot down the Taurus’, and to strike the places from where they would be launched and those who would launch them, and, if necessary, the places from where they would have been delivered,” he warned.
The senior lawmaker, who is a former Russian deputy defense minister and holds the rank of colonel-general, stressed that the long-range missiles that had been earlier supplied to Ukraine by the US, UK and France – ATACMS,