UK Armed Forces Minister Says Ukraine Entitled To Attack Russian Military Targets

UK Armed Forces Minister Says Ukraine Entitled to Attack Russian Military Targets

UK Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said on Tuesday that Ukraine has a legitimate right to target military facilities and fuel depots on the Russian territory to disrupt the logistics of the Russian armed forces

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 26th April, 2022) UK Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said on Tuesday that Ukraine has a legitimate right to target military facilities and fuel depots on the Russian territory to disrupt the logistics of the Russian armed forces.

"I clearly regret all loss of life, be it military or civilian, and where the actions are indiscriminate from whichever side... But it is completely legitimate for Ukraine to be targeting in Russia's depth in order to disrupt the logistics that, if they weren't disrupted, would directly contribute to death and carnage on Ukrainian soil," Heappey told Times Radio.

He added that Ukraine as a sovereign state has a right to reciprocate, if it is attacked by another country.

"Ukraine is a sovereign country that was leaving peacefully within its own borders and then another country decided to violate those borders and bring 130,000 troops across into their country. That started the war between Ukraine and Russia. And in war, Ukraine needs to strike into its opponent's depth, to attack its logistic lines, its fuel supplies, its ammunition depots," Heappey added.

When asked whether the United Kingdom is concerned that some of the British arms supplied to Ukraine as defensive weapons can be used for offensive operations on the Russian territory, he said he does not consider it to be a problem, since many countries import weapons, yet they alone bear the responsibility for decisions to apply them.

"There are lots of countries around the world that operate kit that they have imported from other countries. And when those bits of kit are used, you tend not to blame the country that manufactured it. You blame the country that fired it," Heappey said.

On February 24, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine after the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk appealed for help in defending themselves against Ukrainian forces. Russia said that the aim of its operation is "demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine."