Russia has accumulated 10,000 S-300 missiles, but there are suitable weapons in the world to counter them - Zelensky

Russia has accumulated 10,000 S-300 missiles, but there are suitable weapons in the world to counter them. However, Ukraine currently does not have either a sufficient number of these weapons or permission from Western partners to use them for strikes against military targets inside Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this in an interview for The New York Times, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"The use of S-300 systems — they [the Russians] have accumulated 10,000 S-300 missiles. Ten thousand — this is their advantage again. Are there suitable weapons in the world to counter this? Yes. Are there suitable weapons better than what Russia has in its arsenal? Yes. Does Ukraine have both of these elements — sufficient quantity and permission? No," Zelensky said.

He said that the use of weapons against military targets in Russia is defense.

"The Biden administration was indeed against the use of Western weapons. Today, we have our own weapons, our own drones, and we use them, but I would like to note that we do this for defense. This is very important, and what we have always asked of President Biden — and not only President Biden, but the leaders of many countries — is that we want to use the weapons for defense," Zelensky said.

He said that Russian forces are stationed "in the villages nearest to the border of Ukraine in Russia and they strike from there, knowing that we will not return fire."

"When we talk about ATACMS or HIMARS, or we talk about artillery shells, or relevant missiles — Storm Shadow, Scalp, etc. — we do not have permission to strike the territory of the Russian Federation, their military locations, headquarters, etc. This is part of our defense. How can we protect ourselves from these attacks?" Zelensky asked.

According to him, permission to use Western weapons against Russian military targets inside Russia would create a fence of fire in front of Ukraine's border.

Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine