Vice Admiral Oleksiy Neizhpapa said in a wide-ranging interview to Sky News, that the sea war has two goals - to stop the russian navy from being able to attack Ukraine and to enable ships to access Ukrainian ports.
The UK, US and other allies only agreed to start giving Ukraine longer-range missiles last year. Ukrainian forces have used them to hit targets in russian-occupied parts of Ukraine.
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The head of the Ukrainian navy emphasized that it is important for Ukraine to have such military capabilities so that russia would even reconsider looking in its direction.
"We must have the capabilities to make sure that russia will give up forever the thought of even looking in Ukraine's direction, including at sea," Vice Admiral Neizhpapa said.
According to the publication, very little is known in public about the secret operations conducted by Ukraine's military, with support from western allies, against the russian navy, but they involve a range of different modes of attack, including underwater drones, western missiles and even jet skis.
"Our successes during 2022 and 2023 were a result of difficult but innovative decisions, which did not exist before," the naval commander said.
According to him, in modern warfare, the advantage lies with those who have superior technological capabilities.
"The enemy is adapting, and we must also adapt. A modern war is a war of technologies. Whoever wins in the technological sense will have victory," Neizhpapa said.
As indicated in the publication, the ability to use long-range Western weapons, such as the British Storm Shadow missile or the American Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), against military targets inside russia could assist Ukraine.
Asked whether he believed Ukraine could win the war faster if given such permission, the commander said: "Of course, the sooner the armed forces have the necessary battle capabilities and certain capabilities to destroy the enemy's infrastructure facilities, the sooner we will win."
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