President Joe Biden authorized Ukraine to strike specific targets on Soviet land, according to U.S. officials who confirmed this on Friday.
A senior American standard who spoke to Fox News described the license as a “limited” policy change that would allow Ukraine to protect the city of Kharkiv from Russian long-range assault.
The president just directed his crew to make sure that Ukraine is use U.S.-provided arms for counter-fire operations in the Kharkiv region to counteract Russian troops that are attacking them or are planning to attack them. Our approach has n’t changed with regard to outlawing ATACMS or long-range strikes inside of Russia.
ATACMS stands for Army Tactical Missile System, a ballistic missile weapon with a range of about 185 miles that the United States officially began providing , Ukraine in March, although, some observers believe the Ukrainians had them even sooner. Shortly after Russia invaded in February 2022, the Ukrainians began asking for ATACMS.
Russia was found to be “receiving and using” North Korean long-range ballistic missiles, according to the White House, and the decision to provide ATACMS was finalized.
Apparently, Ukrainian forces are using ATACMS very effectively. The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces announced on Thursday night that Russia had been using its troops to destroy a ferry crossing in occupied Crimea with the help of American missiles. The Russians used a number of air defense systems to defend the ferry, but it was obvious that these defenses could n’t stop ATACMS missiles.
Another U.S. official told the BBC that Ukraine was only permitted to “hit back at Russian forces hitting them or preparing to hit them” with American weapons but not the deadly ATACMS.
When asked if Ukraine had been given permission to fire anti-aircraft weapons into Russian airspace, the official continued,” We’ve never told them that they ca n’t shoot down a Russian airplane over Russian soil that’s coming at them.”
Soon after the U. S. made its announcement, Germany also said Kharkiv’s defenders were authorized to use long- range German weapons against some targets on Russian soil.
Near Ukraine’s northeastern border, where the Russian invaders launched a new front in April, has been hammering the city of Kharkiv by Russian forces. Kharkiv is only about 12 miles from the border.
Russian bombs and missiles landed on civilian structures in Kharkiv, killing dozens of people and injuring others as they destroyed homes, farms, and markets. Russian missiles targeted an apartment block in Kharkiv on Friday, a few hours after the White House announcement, killing at least four people.
After Russians attacked with S-300 missiles that hit Kharkiv, Ukraine, on May 31, 2024, first responders work through the debris with construction vehicles at a damaged residential area. ( Kharkiv Regional Military Adm. /Anadolu via Getty Images )
It appears that the decision to allow Ukraine to launch an American long-range attack was made without warning. Sabrina Singh, a press secretary for the Pentagon, insisted there would be” no change in our policy” as recently as Thursday afternoon.
Just a few hours before the White House announced it would permit Ukraine to hit targets inside of Russia, Singh said,” The security assistance that we provide is intended to be used within Ukraine, and we do n’t encourage or permit attacks inside of Russia.”
A Ukrainian intelligence officer reported to the New York Times on Friday that Ukrainian artillery commanders who had American weapons were “happy” they could finally use their weapons against Russian targets.
” Now we can finally hit them”, said one satisfied artillery commander.
According to the intelligence officer, “his understanding was that Ukraine had permission to launch strikes stretching about 24 miles inside Russia.”
Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, called the new engagement rules” a step forward” in defending “our people who live in villages along the borderline.”
Volodymyr Zelensky, president of Ukraine ( Berk Ozkan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images )
Russia was upset that the United States and Germany gave Ukraine permission to attack targets across the border. The Kremlin claimed that Ukraine had already launched foreign weapons into Russia prior to receiving these orders, which threatened to cause the conflict to escalate.
“Ukraine and its NATO allies will receive such a devastating response that the alliance wo n’t be able to avoid entering the conflict”, vowed Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia’s Security Council.
Russia claims that service members from NATO-related NATO countries are already in direct control of all long-range weapons used by Ukraine. This is no military assistance, this is participation in a war against us– and such actions could well become a casus belli”, he said, threatening:
The worst possible scenario is how the military conflict with the West is currently developing. When it comes to the firepower of the NATO weapons being used, there is a constant rise in the bar. Therefore, nobody today can rule out the conflict’s transition to its final stage.
When asked if he was speaking about nuclear weapons, Medvedev responded that it would be a “fatal mistake” for the West to think Russia would never use them.
” This is, alas, neither intimidation nor bluffing”, he said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday the U. S. and NATO have “entered a new round of escalating tension, and they are doing this deliberately”.
According to Peskov,” They are in every way provoking Ukraine to continue this pointless war.”
Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, issued a warning on Tuesday about” serious consequences” if Western weapons were used against targets on Russian soil.
How will the United States act if these serious consequences occur in Europe, keeping in mind our parity in the field of strategic weapons? It’s hard to say – do they want a global conflict”? said Putin. Like Medvedev, he was speaking of nuclear war.
Putin obversed Russia by warning that” small countries with small populations and dense populations” should be “aware of what they are playing with.”
