MOSCOW, November 18. /TASS/. Strikes against military infrastructure in Ukraine, including airfields and weapons depots, could prevent the launch of tactical missiles targeting Russian territory, Andrei Kartapolov, chairman of the Ukrainian defense committee, told TASS. State Duma (lower house of Russian parliament).

“We must draw conclusions and continue attacks on airfields to make it impossible to use aircraft. If planes cannot take off, then no air-launched missiles (like the SCALP and Storm Shadow – TASS) will be used,” Kartapolov said. , commenting on Western countries’ decision to allow long-range attacks inside Russia.

“We need to identify where these missiles are stored and target means of transport, as well as depots and infrastructure,” he added.

According to Kartapolov, Russia “will certainly respond” to such a decision by Western countries. “And our response will be unpredictable for everyone and very harsh. This is what our president has already said,” the senior lawmaker stressed.

He also said that Russian air defenses “are today capable of intercepting any aerial target.” “This concerns both cruise missiles and ballistic targets, such as ATACMS missiles. We have intercepted them several 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 in the same way as we have been doing,” Kartapolov noted.

The New York Times had earlier reported, 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 had, in turn, approved the use of the SCALP and Storm Shadow missiles for such attacks. Neither the White House, nor Paris, nor London have formally confirmed this information.