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After weeks of back-and-forth, Ukraine has been granted permission to hit targets in Russia with U. S. -made weapons, a tactic it says will protect its territory in the northeast.
By Andrew E. Kramer
Reporting from Kharkiv, Ukraine
Lieutenant Denys Yaroslavsky, a Ukrainian intelligence officer, was visiting army positions near the Russian border on Friday when he encountered an artillery commander whose U. S. -made howitzer was pointed at Russia.
The commander was in a very good mood, Lieutenant Yaroslavsky said in recounting the episode. Russian territory was within range. He was satisfied and said, “Now, in spite of everything, we can beat them. “
For weeks, Ukrainian officials have been talking about the desire to remove the chains imposed on their commanders, while calling on their allies to allow for more effective defense, using Western weapons. After all, that consent was especially received on Thursday, when the United States. He replaced his policy after months of resistance, saying Ukraine could simply use U. S. -supplied weapons to strike military targets in Russia.
The upgrade is limited in scope and gives Ukraine permission to use U. S. air defense systems, guided rockets, and artillery. The U. S. military has been asked to fire on Russia along Ukraine’s northeastern border. Fighting has been raging near the city of Kharkiv for three weeks after Russian troops crossed the border to open a new war front.
But hitting targets with U. S. weapons in Russia is a red line drawn through Biden’s administration because of concerns of an escalation into a broader conflict. Ukrainian officials have attempted to assuage this concern by presenting the use of Western weapons as a purely defensive tactic, pointing to how Russia has introduced missiles and amassed forces in the security of its own territory, beyond the diversity of Soviet-era Ukrainian weapons.
In fact, in granting the authorization, U. S. officials said the weapons would only be used in self-defense in the border region.
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