Without US intelligence, Ukraine cannot counter ballistic missiles — lawmaker

World October 20, 15:06

According to Alexey Goncharenko, all the talk about Ukraine's intelligence, and that the Europeans will cover for American intelligence for Ukraine, turned out to be false

MOSCOW, October 20. /TASS/. Without US intelligence, Ukraine is unable to counter ballistic missiles, and Kiev’s European allies will not be able to make up for American aid, member of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada (parliament) Alexey Goncharenko (listed in Russia as extremist and terrorist) said.

"Last night I heard ballistic missiles coming in <...> all night long. And we heard that there were only incoming missiles, but no outgoing ones (referring to the operation of Ukrainian air defense systems). We have nothing to shoot down ballistic missiles with without the Americans. What’s more, as it turns out, without the Americans, we don’t even know when they take off or where they’re headed. All the talk about our own intelligence - and that the Europeans will cover for American intelligence for us - turned out to be false. No one can replace American intelligence," he said in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.

The lawmaker criticized Ukrainian politicians, including Vladimir Zelensky, for making accusations in the media against US President Donald Trump. "Under such circumstances, a responsible politician has no right to attack the American president," he added.

Previously, Ukrainian military officials and politicians had repeatedly said that the United States was not fully providing data on ballistic missile launches, preventing Ukrainian air defense systems from effectively intercepting them.

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