MOSCOW, April 23. /TASS/. The destruction of European factories producing drones for the Ukrainian armed forces would be entirely justified as part of the fight against the industrial capabilities of the collective West, which is aiding the Kiev regime, military expert Alexander Stepanov told TASS.
Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry published the names and addresses of Ukrainian and other foreign enterprises in Europe that manufacture drones for strikes against Russia. Following this, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev wrote on his X page that the published data should be viewed as a list of potential targets for the Russian Armed Forces.
"It is difficult to compete with the West's collective industrial capabilities as a whole. Therefore, in my assessment, counteraction is only possible through preemptive, asymmetric measures and firm responses to the Kiev regime's publicly articulated intentions to build up its offensive capabilities, as demonstrated by European leaders. In this regard, I believe it is justified to eliminate the confirmed and legitimate targets published by the Defense Ministry and approved by the Security Council as potential targets. We must transition from reactive rhetoric to proactive defensive actions, such as carrying out precision strikes to eliminate production and industrial capacity," Stepanov said.
The expert explained that he was referring not to strikes with weapons of mass destruction, but to the use of conventional high-precision systems, including hypersonic ones. According to Stepanov, there are no moral or legal restrictions remaining on such strikes given the proven use of these drones on Russian territory, including from NATO airspace against civilian targets.
The expert also proposed holding European officials accountable who have authorization to decide on the supply of drones to Ukraine.