Ukraine counts on new long-range weapon to bypass Western restrictions and hit deep into Russia

Ukraine unveils new long-range weapon, the Palianytsia, to strike deep into Russia, challenging restrictions on Western-supplied arms.

Ukraine says it has a new homegrown long-range weapon that will allow it to strike deep into Russia without asking permission from allies.

With the characteristics of a missile and a drone, the “Palianytsia” was created due to urgent necessity, Ukrainian officials said, as Russia has dominated the skies since the outbreak of the war in February 2022. On Monday (August 26, 2024), a wave of Russian missiles and drones targeted Ukraine’s electrical infrastructure in the largest such attack in weeks.

“Defenders of life should have no restrictions on weapons, as long as Russia uses all kinds of its own weapons,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a Telegram message following the attacks.

Mr. Zelenskyy confirmed on Saturday (August 24, 2024) the existence of the Palianytsia, named after a type of Ukrainian bread and a word so notoriously difficult to pronounce correctly that it was used to unmask suspected spies early in the war. The Ukrainian president called it “a new class” of weapon.

Saturday (August 24, 2024), which marked Ukraine’s 33rd anniversary of independence from the former Soviet Union, also saw the first use of the new weapon, targeting a Russian military installation in the occupied territory, officials said without providing details.

A Ukrainian military video hinted that its range is up to 700 km – on par with the U.S.-supplied ATACMS. It showed a map with various airfields, including Russia’s Savasleyka air base, which lies within that range, adding that the Palianytsia can reach at least 20 Russian airfields.

The United States and other Western allies provide long-range weapons to Ukraine but restrict it from launching them deep into Russia for fear of escalating the war. Ukraine can target the border regions but wants to go deeper to attack Russia’s military infrastructure.