Officials in Ukraine said it had built and successfully used a weapon with a 700km range and had struck a Russian air base with cardboard drones, as the Kremlin vowed to deepen ties with North Korea amid US fears that Pyongyang may send arms to Moscow.
Kyiv hailed its development and use of innovative weapons as Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba told critics of his country’s slow-moving counteroffensive against Russia’s invasion force to “shut up” and show more respect for the nation’s soldiers.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said his ministry for strategic industries had reported on “our own production [of arms]” and “successful use of our long-range weapons: a target was hit 700km away”.
He did not give details of the weapon or when it was used, but Russia said on Wednesday that Ukrainian attack drones hit an airfield at Pskov about 700km from Ukraine, damaging at least four Il-76 military transport planes. Kyiv did not take responsibility for the strike but said four planes were destroyed and several others damaged in the incident.
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Ukrainian security service sources said last week that its drones damaged several Russian bombers and air defence systems at Kursk airfield, about 100km from Ukraine, and on Thursday confirmed the veracity of footage showing the testing of cardboard drones that were reportedly used in the attack. Kyiv has received flat-pack cardboard drones from Australia that have a range of about 120km and are thought to be almost invisible to radar.
Ukraine has stepped up attacks on Russian targets using air and marine drones in recent weeks. Moscow said its forces intercepted more aerial drones on Thursday and killed and captured members of a Ukrainian sabotage group in the border region of Bryansk.
Moscow said its troops were continuing to strengthen their positions near Kupiansk in Ukraine’s eastern Kharkiv region and were thwarting Ukrainian attacks further south, where Kyiv’s forces are trying to break through deep minefields and fortifications in occupied territory to reach the Azov Sea and isolate occupied Crimea.
“Criticising the slow pace of [the] counteroffensive equals … spitting into the face of [the] Ukrainian soldier who sacrifices his life every day, moving forward and liberating one kilometre of Ukrainian soil after another,” said Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba.
“I would recommend all critics to shut up, come to Ukraine and try to liberate one square centimetre by themselves,” he said on the fringes of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Spain, where he sought more long-range missiles and air defence systems for Kyiv.
Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday that Ukraine was “gradually gaining ground” and only Kyiv could make the “difficult and tough decisions” on how to drive back an enemy that is deeply dug-in and has huge artillery power and vast air superiority.
“It’s a tough fight, and there is no easy way to victory,” he told CNN. “What we have seen is that Ukrainians have exceeded expectations again and again… We need to trust them.”
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said the US was “concerned” that North Korea “continues to consider providing military support to Russia’s military forces in Ukraine” and warned it against such a move.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded: “Moscow and Pyongyang maintain good relations… This is a very important neighbour in the region, so these relations will continue to develop.”
