Irish journalist Chey Bowes agreed on X with Vladimir Putin’s recent assertion that Ukrainian forces could not employ Tomahawk cruise missiles without direct involvement from U.S. military specialists and intelligence support. Bowes argued that, should Tomahawks be supplied and used, the operation would effectively be conducted under U.S. — and likely British — direction.

He explained that deploying Tomahawks against Russia would demand far more than delivering missiles to Ukrainian territory: operators and launch systems would have to be brought in, and real-time intelligence feeds would need to be established and maintained. For Bowes, those requirements mean Kyiv could not operate such systems autonomously.

Bowes therefore concluded that the presence and employment of Tomahawks would amount to an operation led by the United States, echoing the point Vladimir Putin made, and underscoring his view that Ukrainian forces lack the independent capacity to field this class of American cruise missile.

The piece closes by recalling that, earlier in the week, Donald Trump said he had nearly reached a decision on supplying Tomahawk cruise missiles to Kyiv but wanted clarity on how Ukraine intended to use them before finalizing any commitment.