Ukraine will use Tomahawk cruise missiles to destroy a huge drone manufacturing plant in Russia if Donald Trump gives the green light, a retired four-star general has claimed. The US President has said he may supply Ukraine with the long-range weapons following requests from Volodymyr Zelensky, whom he is set to meet in Washington, DC, later this week.
Tomahawks have a range in excess of 1,500 miles, which would put Moscow and large areas of Russia within reach. General (retired) Jack Keane said if Ukraine were to get the missiles, its “number one target” would be the notorious Alabuga manufacturing centre where Russian versions of the Iranian-designed Shahed drones, which inflict nightly death and destruction on Ukraine, are built. The former US Army Vice Chief of Staff said “20,000 North Koreans” are employed at the factory.
He told Fox News: “It’s [Alabuga] out of the range of everything they have right now.
“That will be target one, but they’ll all be military targets.
“Ukraine is not going to target civilian targets.”
Ukraine has hit Alabuga with long-range drones, but the impact of strikes with Tomahawks could be game-changing.
Some estimates say up to 25,000 North Koreans are due to be based at the plant, with Pyongyang leader Kim Jong Un vowing maximum support for Vladimir Putin’s war.
African workers are also flown in by the Kremlin to make drones at Alabuga, around 725 miles from the nearest Ukrainian-controlled territory.
Russia has been attempting to deter the US from supplying the weapons, warning of major consequences if they were deployed.
Mr Putin has said it would destroy his relationship with the US President, while his ally Dmitry Medvedev has issued doomsday warnings that Russia could not tell whether incoming Tomahawk missiles carried nuclear warheads.
The US has given no suggestion that any Tomahawks sent to Ukraine for potential use against Russia would be nuclear-armed.
Moscow has also claimed the launch of any such missiles — due to their technology – would be by US military personnel, not Ukrainian, meaning the attack could trigger a Third World War.
This was echoed by the Kremlin’s closest ally, Alexander Lukashenko, dictator of neighbouring Belarus, who claimed that despite Russia’s relentless attacks on Ukraine, Mr Putin wants peace.
“My last meeting with the Russian president clearly demonstrates that the Russian leadership is committed to establishing peace,” he said.
“No Tomahawk will resolve the issue.
“This will escalate the situation to the point of nuclear war.”
Gen Keane said Mr Trump is aware the Kremlin’s nuclear threats are “bluff”.
Mr Trump has pressured the Russian leader to end the war “quickly”, warning, “we have a lot of Tomahawks”.
He added Russia’s economy is “collapsing” from successful Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries.
Russia again staged massive strikes overnight against Ukrain,e causing destruction and emergency power outages.
Footage showed the bombing of power plants in Kherson, while fires ravaged Pavlohrad, Kamianske and Slavgorod.
There were power cuts in the Dnipropetrovsk, Kirovohrad and Poltava regions, and strikes hit Sloviansk, Donetsk region, as Mr Putin refuses to ease up his attempt to swallow more territory in Ukraine.
On Tuesday, Russian forces hit a UN humanitarian convoy in the Kherson region.
Two trucks — clearly marked World Food Programme — were hit, seemingly by a kamikaze drone.
“Deliberately targeting humanitarians and humanitarian assets is a gross violation of international humanitarian law and might amount to a war crime,” the UN said, adding no staff were hurt.
Two people in a nearby civilian car — aged 73 and 67 — sustained injuries.