MOSCOW, November 18. /TASS/. Strikes on military infrastructure in Ukraine, including airfields and weapons depots, could prevent the launch of tactical missiles targeting Russian territory, Andrey Kartapolov, head of the Russian State Duma (lower house of parliament) Committee on Defense, told TASS.
"We need to draw conclusions and continue attacks on airfields to make the use of aircraft impossible. If planes are unable to take off, then no air-launched missiles (such as SCALP and Storm Shadow - TASS) will be used," Kartapolov said, commenting on the decision by Western countries to allow long-range attacks inside Russia.
"We need to identify where these missiles are stored and target transportation means, as well as depots and infrastructure," he added.
According to Kartapolov, Russia "will definitely" respond to such a decision by Western countries. "And our response will be unpredictable for everyone, and very tough. This is what our president has already said," the senior lawmaker emphasized.
He also asserted that Russian air defenses "are capable of intercepting any aerial targets today." "This concerns both cruise missiles and ballistic targets, such as ATACMS missiles. We have intercepted them many times, so there will be nothing new here. It’s just that the flight range will increase, but their ballistic and other characteristics will remain the same. So, we will continue to intercept them the same way we have been doing," Kartapolov noted.
The New York Times reported earlier, citing sources, that US President Joe Biden had authorized the use of US-made ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles for strikes inside Russia. Sources told Le Figaro newspaper that Paris and London, in turn, had approved the use of SCALP and Storm Shadow missiles for such attacks. Neither the White House, nor Paris, nor London has formally confirmed these reports.