“Ukraine can use Finnish-provided weapons to strike Russia” – defense minister

Ukraine may use the weapons donated by Finland to strike at the territory of the Russia as the state has not imposed any restrictions on their use, defense minister Antti Häkkänen says.

The Finnish defense ministry noted that the restrictions on the use of weapons are set mainly by the countries that provided Ukraine with long-range systems.

This question arose after the future commander of the Estonian Defense Forces Andrus Merilo said that Western countries made a mistake by limiting the use of weapons they had provided to Ukraine to the Russian-occupied territory.

Defense Minister Häkkänen emphasized that Finland is constantly discussing with allied countries restrictions on military aid to Ukraine.

For his part, the head of the parliamentary defense committee Jukka Kopra said that Ukraine should be able to use weapons against military targets in Russia.

Mikko Savola, deputy chairman of the Defense Committee, also noted that the weapons provided by Finland could be used for strikes on Russian territory.

He noted that the range of these weapons is shorter than that of long-range missiles.

The journalists also asked NATO whether the Allies had provided Ukraine with instructions on how and where to use the military aid.

The response stated that the Alliance's position is that Ukraine has the right to self-defense, including the ability to strike at Russian military targets outside its borders.

Finnish Defense Forces reported that the political will of NATO and other Western countries, as well as the condition of military aid, stipulate that Western weapons cannot be used to attack Russian territory.

On February 26, French President Emmanuel Macron announced a "coalition" to provide Ukraine with "medium and long-range missiles and bombs."

On May 27 last year, Ukraine made an official request to Germany to provide it with Taurus long-range cruise missiles.

In November, the manufacturing company MBDA, which owns Taurus Systems, stated that it was able to increase the production of Taurus missiles in the shortest possible time and integrate new technical achievements into them.

On February 22, the German Bundestag supported an arms proposal for Ukraine prepared by the ruling parties, which, in particular, calls for long-range systems to be provided to the Ukrainian forces.

The White House has officially confirmed the transfer of ATACMS long-range missiles to Ukraine in a modification that has a range of 165 kilometers.

However, the version of ATACMS missiles that Ukraine received has a limited range. Nevertheless, U.S. officials say it is sufficient to reach almost all major military bases used by Russia.