The former president of Ukraine, Leonid Kuchma, expressed the opinion that the bombers transferred to Russia 25 years ago would not significantly impact the current war. TSN reports. This information was shared by Kontrakty.UA.
In his conversation with "Schemes," Kuchma emphasized that having these strategic aircraft in Ukraine's military arsenal would have aided in resisting the occupiers.
"Russia possesses air defense systems capable of countering X-55 class missiles, while the large, relatively slow bombers would have easily become targets for Russian strike capabilities both in the air and at airfields during the early days of the war," Kuchma noted.
He added that strategic weapons were unlikely to assist in addressing Ukraine's strategic objectives, and they certainly did not fit within the Ukrainian context.
"We did not have test sites for missile trials. We lacked even the necessary territorial expanse for the operation of these systems – as strategic weaponry requires strategic space," Kuchma stated.
It is worth recalling that Ukraine transferred these assets to the occupiers as part of an agreement between the governments of the countries in 1999 in exchange for settling debts for gas consumption. Journalists have identified ten Ukrainian strategic aircraft that the Russian army is now using against Ukraine.