Commenting on a report out of the Institute for the Study of War, U.S. Congressman Ted Lieu (D-CA) celebrated the news that Ukraine has “conducted long-range unidentified unmanned aerial systems (UAS) strikes against Russian military production and oil refinery infrastructure” in Tatarstan, a region in the Russian Federation.
The strike is considered controversial by some because weapons being provided by Western allies of Ukraine are provided for “defense” of Ukraine’s sovereign territory. Whether or not an effective defense can be mounted from a strictly defensive position is at issue, since without trying to hobble Russian supply chains and revenue sources, Ukrainian defenses are at a clear disadvantage.
[The U.S. has a strategic goal of avoiding escalation with Moscow even as it arms Ukraine, and a tacit prohibition on offensive attacks has been part of the evolving strategy.]
Lieu’s defense of the strikes — more aptly, his approbation — includes an analogy to an imagined attack on U.S. soil, wherein the actionable defense of U.S. security was limited to actions within its own borders. Lieu qualifies such a limitation as senseless. “It would be outrageous,” Lieu contends, “for anyone to take the position that the U.S. could not strike back against the territory of that country right?”
Good for Ukraine on conducting long range strikes into the Russian federation.
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) April 3, 2024
If a foreign country invaded the U.S., it would be outrageous for anyone to take the position that the U.S. could not strike back against the territory of that country right? https://t.co/EcftPWGt1U
NOTE: Reuters reported that a Ukrainian drone “struck Russia’s third-largest oil refinery on Tuesday about 1,300 km (800 miles) from the front lines.” The target reportedly “processes about 155,000 barrels of crude per day.”
The Institute for the Study of War reports that “the distance of the targets from Ukraine’s borders represents a significant inflection in Ukraine’s demonstrated capability to conduct long-range strikes far into the Russian rear.”
2/ The April 2 strikes are the first Ukrainian strikes on Tatarstan, and the distance of the targets from Ukraine’s borders represents a significant inflection in Ukraine’s demonstrated capability to conduct long-range strikes far into the Russian rear.
— Institute for the Study of War (@TheStudyofWar) April 3, 2024
The long-range strikes into Russian territory come as Russian forces, according to the Institute, “appear to have increased the number and size of mechanized ground assaults on select sectors of the frontline within the past two weeks, marking a notable overall increase in Russian mechanized assaults across the theater.”
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