Helsinki: Ukraine is free to strike Russian territory with Finnish weapons, if necessary.

While Germany is resisting allies’ calls to send Ukraine long-range Taurus cruise missiles over fears that the defenders could bomb targets inside Russia, Finland says that it has imposed no restrictions in this regard and Kyiv is free to strike the enemy on their territory. 

Helsinki has urged Berlin to unlock the supply line for weapons that can hurt the aggressor in his home.

More to read:
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Finland's Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen said his country has not set any restrictions on what Ukraine can do with the weapons it provides, Finnish broadcaster Yle quoted the official as stating. Häkkänen added that blocks have been imposed mainly by countries which have provided Ukraine with long-range weapons systems.

Other Finnish officials share the same point of view.

“If necessary, Ukraine should also strike military targets on the Russian side. It is a completely legitimate defensive battle that Ukraine is waging. The U.N. Charter allows military targets to be attacked across land borders,” according to Jukka Kopra, head of the parliamentary defense committee.

As of February 2024, Finland has decided to provide 1.8-billion-euro worth of military equipment to Ukraine in 22 packages.
Until now, the Nordic country has supplied the following military equipment:

• Armoured personnel carriers: Sisu XA-185s [September 2022].
• Combat engineering vehicles: Leopard 2R mine-clearing tanks [Before June 2023].
• Self-Propelled Artillery: 122mm 122 PSH 74s (2S1 Gvozdikas) [August 2023].
• Towed artillery: 152mm 152 K89 (2A36 Giatsint-B) [April 2023]; 130mm 130 K54s (M-46s) [Before September 2023].
• Heavy mortars: 120mm 120 Krh 85 92s [August 2022].
• Anti-aircraft guns: 23mm 23 ITK 61 'Sergei' (ZU-23)s [August 2022].
• Anti-tank weaponry: 1,500 66 KES (M72 LAW) anti-tank weapons [March 2022]; 112mm RSKES APILAS [Before April 2023].
• Small arms: 12.7mm 12,7 ItKK 96 heavy machine guns [September 2022]; 2,500 assault rifles [March 2022].
• Various ammunition (grenades, cartridges) and miscellaneous items (helmets, meals).

Finland has also deployed military specialists to train Ukrainian soldiers and offered 86 million euros in financial aid as of February 2022. 

Germany is analyzing the risks of getting drawn into a direct confrontation with Russia, should its weapons hit Russian soil.

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