NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said Ukraine has the right to attack legitimate military targets inside the Russian Federation.
Stoltenberg held a joint news conference with the Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson as a military base close to Stockholm on Friday.
Stoltenberg said, “Ukraine has the right to self-defence.”
The NATO chief added, “The right to self-defence also includes the right to hit legitimate, military targets on the territory of the attacking party, the aggressor – in this case Russia.
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Stoltenberg continued, “This is a war of attack that Russia has begun against a peaceful, democratic neighbouring country – Ukraine – that at no point has been a threat to Russia.
There is no question that Ukraine has the right to hit targets on Russian territory.”
Last week Washington gave Kyiv permission to use their supplied weapons to Ukraine to be used at targets near to Kharkiv.
Russia has hit back at this and has accused Ukraine of using US supplied HIMARS rockets of striking civilian targets in the Belgorod region close to the Ukrainian border.
Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry has said that after permission was given, some of the US weapons in Russia which is a “confession … for the murder of children and women in the Belgorod region.”
Zakharova said on Friday that women and children were killed by the US supplied HIMARS rockets.
Zakharova said fragments of the HIMARS rockets will “serve as direct proof.”
The Russian Defence Ministry said that 20 people have been injured including children after Ukraine launched US supplied ATACMS missiles in the occupied Ukrainian city of Luhansk.
