Former Ukrainian Defense Minister Asks for Long-Range Missiles at Harvard Panel

Oleksii Y. Reznikov, who was dismissed from his role as Ukraine’s Minister of Defense in September 2023, advocated for unlimited access to long-range missiles to fight Russia at a panel event hosted by Harvard’s Ukrainian Research Institute on Wednesday.

Reznikov said the Russia-Ukraine war will not end without membership to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization or expanded defense commitments from the U.S.

About 60 attendees gathered to hear Reznikov discuss the conflict’s end at the Center for Government and International Studies.

Reznikov led the Ukrainian military from 2021 to 2023, serving during the initial stages of Russia’s invasion in February 2022. He was later dismissed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as part of an anti-corruption initiative, though Zelensky said the move was designed to find “new approaches” to defense.

Reznikov said the country needs missiles “without limitations on how the weapons are used.”

“Give us 1,000 tanks, give us 300 F-16s,” Reznikov said. “Maybe it will be enough, plus attackers and other types of missiles and bombs for this equipment.”

Reznikov did not address his 2023 dismissal at the Wednesday event, moderated by Harvard Kennedy School research associate Mariana Budjeryn.

Instead, he expressed confidence in Ukraine’s military capabilities and said the country’s goal should be to restore its borders from before Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.

“It’s our goal,” Reznikov said. “In 1991, it was officially recognized internationally, including the Russia Federation.”

He warned that Ukraine should not accept a peace deal without “very tangible and concrete guarantees.”

“Otherwise we might have an eruption with a dramatic domino effect,” he added.

Reznikov also said NATO membership could create a security guarantee and force Russia to negotiate. Ukraine is currently a NATO partner country that cooperates with members, but is not covered by the mutual defense guarantee that protects NATO members.

“If we consider the formalities, Ukraine has already implemented more NATO standards than some of the NATO members,” Reznikov said at the event.

Emily Channell-Justice, director of the Temerty Contemporary Ukraine Program at HURI, said Reznikov’s perspective was especially important because he could “talk from literally the negotiating table.”

She added that his perspective “brings us a proximity to real life events and hopefully will remind Harvard students that this is something that’s still happening and is still an immediate problem.”

At the event, Reznikov praised the HURI as “one of the few institutions that can see Ukraine not through the optic or prism of Moscow.”

Vlad Nekhoroshykh, an intern coordinator for HURI from Sumy, Ukraine, described Reznikov as “a very eloquent speaker.”

“He’s optimistic, he’s motivational,” Nekhoroshykh said. “So it was really good and inspiring to have him here.”

Diana Yurchak, a Harvard Business School student from Donetsk, Ukraine, said Reznikov touched on “some very, very personal feelings” during his presentation.

“We will stay strong and nothing will break our spirit,” Yurchak said. “There will be no fatigue syndrome. We will just need to keep raising awareness of Ukraine and keep working with the current political environment no matter what.”

Reznikov, however, said the war had changed him more than he expected.

“I was sure that I will never kill people,” he said. “But after full-scale invasion, I realized inside me that I not only can kill human beings, I want to kill them. I want to kill enemy.”

“I told that to President Zelensky,” Reznikov added. “And he replied, ‘me too.’”