Germany announces all range restrictions on missiles supplied to Ukraine have been lifted
Peter Felstead
Germany has announced that all range restrictions on the long-range weapons provided to the Ukrainian armed forces by their Western allies have been lifted, allowing them to strike much further behind the front lines in Ukraine.
Confirmation of the move came from German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who stated at the WDR Europaforum on 26 May 2025, “There are no more range limitations for weapons delivered to Ukraine. Neither from the Brits, nor the French, nor from us. Not from the Americans either. This means that Ukraine can now also defend itself by attacking military positions in Russia, for example.
“A country that can only defend itself against an attacker on its own territory is not defending itself adequately,” Merz added.
Former US President Joe Biden authorised Ukraine to use US-provided long-range weapons – in the form of Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) rounds, which have a range of 300 km – inside Russia for limited strikes in November 2024, with the UK and France subsequently following suit, having provided Ukraine with Storm Shadow/SCALP air-launched cruise missiles (ALCMs), which were hastily integrated onto Ukrainian Sukhoi Su-24 strike aircraft.
Merz’s announcement, however, did not mention the provision to Ukraine of Taurus ALCMs, which Ukraine has long sought and which the previous German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, did not sanction. The Taurus missile has a maximum range of around 500 km, while the UK/French Storm Shadows are believed to be able to reach at least that far.
The German chancellor’s statement on 26 May came in the wake of major Russian aerial attacks on Ukraine over the previous days that killed at least 29 people and constituted the largest aerial attack on Ukraine in three years. The Ukrainian Air Force claimed that 250 bomb-laden unmanned aerial vehicles and 14 ballistic missiles were launched against Kyiv alone.
That onslaught even appeared to exasperate US President Donald Trump, who in the past has been an apologist for Russian President Vladimir Putin but had been trying to broker a ceasefire in the Ukrainian conflict. Posting on his Truth Social media account on 26 May, Trump stated, “I’ve always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely CRAZY! He is needlessly killing a lot of people, and I’m not just talking about soldiers. Missiles and drones are being shot into cities in Ukraine, for no reason whatsoever.”
The ability of the Ukrainian armed forces to strike deeper into Russian territory, targeting transport and command-and-control nodes and supply dumps, for example, could in theory force Russian forces to relocate their force dispositions and air defence assets, relieving pressure on the Ukrainian front line.
However, Newsweek reported on 27 May that Oleksandr Merezkho, the head of Ukraine’s parliamentary foreign affairs committee, had stated that the end to range restrictions on Western-supplied long-range weapons to Ukraine would mean little unless the supply of such weapons is replenished.
