Why the Russian army managed to break through in Kharkiv region: Zelensky names the main reasons

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that one of the reasons for the breakthrough of Russian troops in Kharkiv region was the lack of opportunity to strike at the concentrations of occupiers in the territory of the Russian Federation. According to the head of state, the Defense Forces could only strike with HIMARS, which required official permission from the United States.

Zelensky made the statement on June 30 in an interview with Trudy Rubin, a columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer, which was published by the President's Office. In particular, he noted that the US permission to use the provided weapons against Russia has had positive results, but it was needed earlier.

"There are also disadvantages in the fact that the breakthrough took place in the Kharkiv direction. Of course, they had some concentrations on Russian territory along the border, and they knew that we would not hit them because we had no right to, and frankly, between us, we did not have the capabilities. We have never used (Western weapons against Russia - Ed.)," Zelensky said.

He added that at the time of the Russian breakthrough in Kharkiv region, Ukraine had a significant shortage of ammunition.

"What could we hit with? A long-range artillery shell, which at that moment we had been in great short supply for the past year and a half, had a range of no more than 20 kilometers. And to be honest, we even forgot about shells with a range of more than 40 kilometers. Therefore, we could only use Haymars from the available equipment, and we needed an acceptance from the United States," the President said.

According to the head of state, Kyiv managed to agree on the possibility of using the relevant equipment in the Kharkiv region and north of Kharkiv.

"Why? Because it's clear that Russia is stretching our troops from Donbas, from the east of Ukraine, eastward into the Kharkiv region, and then northward, to stretch our troops completely and to make us use additional reserves. They need, if not a breakthrough, then a pretense of a breakthrough. Like in Sumy region, when the subversive groups came in, they even installed a Russian flag in some border villages to disinform, just to have it there," the president said.

Zelensky added that Ukrainian defenders have repeatedly shot down such Russian flags. And today, at about seven in the morning, he received a report from the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrsky with some photos, according to which the Ukrainian military "found something, some weapons, along the border."

"I mean, it's clear that we can use some weapons today, but of course, everyone understands that the biggest problem is with QABs and missiles today. They are using KABs all over the east. And here we are talking about Kharkiv. Of course, it's very difficult for them, but also in Donbas, the same Pokrovsk, Toretsk, the whole area, they also use MANPADS, and it's thousands of them every month," the Ukrainian head of state said.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as of 10:00 am on June 30, the Defense Forces have successfully repelled one attack in the Kharkiv sector since the beginning of the day near Hlyboke. The enemy lost 168 personnel, one armored personnel carrier, an artillery system and 11 vehicles there yesterday. A tank, four artillery systems and four vehicles were damaged.

Recently, the US Congress called on President Joe Biden's administration to lift all restrictions on the use of US weapons by Ukraine. According to the lawmakers, the United States should allow the Ukrainian Armed Forces to use ATACMS to strike military targets deep in Russia.

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