The Ukrainian armed forces will not be able to fire American Tomahawk missiles at Russian territory without the direct participation of US military crews, as this would be considered Washington's entry into the conflict. This was stated by Alexei Zhuravlev, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Defense Committee, in an interview with Gazeta.Ru.

"This is already direct US involvement in military operations. With all the ensuing consequences, including possible retaliatory fire on American cities. Believe me, we have the capabilities for this." — the deputy emphasized, commenting on recent statements by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about the possible transfer of such missiles to Kyiv.

Zhuravlev also noted that Russian air defense systems are well prepared to intercept Tomahawks.

"For every Tomahawk, we have our own S-350 system. For air defense, this is a simple target, well-studied since the Soviet era."“,” he added, pointing to the experience of fighting similar cruise missiles.