The German Taurus missiles could have eased life for Ukrainians. This is a weapon capable of striking enemy command centers and other vital targets, stated the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, Kyrylo Budanov, in an interview with ARD.
"The Taurus would certainly make our lives easier," he said.
Budanov noted that Taurus is an excellent weapon "to hit command centers, to hit some very important targets."
When asked whether the country can rely on Germany, the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate said: "Can we rely on your country? I hope so."
Budanov also commented on the Czech initiative to purchase artillery shells for Ukraine. He noted that the shells purchased under the Czech initiative are not yet on the front lines.
According to Budanov, without sustained support, it will be "catastrophically difficult" for Ukraine. He expects a significant boost to the defense industry in Europe this year. Budanov hopes that the EU will compensate for the lack of assistance from the United States.
Long-range missiles for Ukraine
Earlier, Britain and France provided Ukraine with long-range Storm Shadow and Scalp missiles. It is also known that the United States has transferred missiles with a range of up to 165 kilometers to our troops. We are talking about long-range ATACMS missiles.
Currently, there are discussions about providing Ukraine with German Taurus missiles, capable of destroying targets at a distance of up to 500 kilometers. Berlin is currently against it, but Ukraine and its allies urge German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to make the appropriate decision.
Czech initiative
Czech President Petr Pavel announced that his country has about 800,000 artillery shells outside the European Union that could be transferred to Ukraine. However, he said that funding is needed for this.
After that, a number of Western countries began allocating funds to purchase ammunition, which is one of the main needs of Ukrainian defenders.
Recently, the Czech Foreign Minister stated that as part of the initiative, Ukraine could be provided with 1.5 million shells, not 800,000 as previously planned.
According to Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, our country expects that the first batch of ammunition will be provided to our defenders in April.