Ukraine suggests it used Western weapons to attack inside Russia for the first time

Ukraine Finally got the green light attack inside Russia using US weapons – and may have started to do so.

A senior Ukrainian official hinted on Monday that Kiev had struck a missile system inside Russia using Western weapons, just days after many of Ukraine’s allies, including the United States, approved its limited use.

That followed months of pressure to ignore Kremlin threats and lift restrictions, which Ukraine said had hampered its defensive effort. Even as President Vladimir PutinAs the country’s officials repeated their dire warnings, Ukraine signaled that it may have fired its first shots in this new reality, leaving observers to question what this could mean for the broader war.

A now-deleted post on Monday on the Ukrainian deputy prime minister’s Telegram messaging app Iryna Vereshchuk showed a photo of what appears to be a burning military truck.

“It’s burning well. This is a Russian S-300. On Russian territory. The first days after permission to use Western weapons in enemy territory,” his post read.

Vereshchuk did not provide details about where on Russian territory the missile system was allegedly hit or when. She also did not specify whether the weapons used in the attack were supplied by the US. NBC News was unable to verify whether the photo she posted showed an S-300 missile system, used for air defense.

Ukraine’s Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News.

Some influential Russian military bloggers were also abuzz on Monday over photos circulating online of a Russian S-300 system that was reportedly hit in the Belgorod border region. One of the photos matched Vereshchuk’s.

The Institute for the Study of War also suggested in your daily report Monday that “Ukrainian forces attacked a Russian S-300/400 air defense battery in Belgorod Oblast,” likely with a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) on Saturday or Sunday.

There was no immediate reaction from the Kremlin to Vereshchuk’s statement, but Putin warned last week that European NATO states were playing with fire and risking a “global conflict” by allowing Ukraine to attack inside Russia.

Several Russian officials have since repeated these warnings, including threats of nuclear retaliation.

On Monday, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov issued a warning to Washington against miscalculations that he said could have “fatal” consequences. “For unknown reasons, they underestimate the seriousness of a rejection they may receive,” said Ryabkov, according to the state news agency Ria.

But military analysts were not convinced by the Kremlin’s rhetorical strategy.

“Ukraine will certainly show that it can now do this and that the S-300 is a legitimate military target,” Michael Clarke, visiting professor of war studies at King’s College London, told NBC News.

Moscow will likely try to find other non-military ways to take revenge on NATO countries, including sabotage, Clarke said.

“The nuclear response is still a red herring even though they keep talking about it to scare everyone,” he added.

After Russia’s sweeping advance in the northeastern border region of Kharkiv last month, Kiev was desperate to attack Russian targets across the border that were fueling the new attack, but was hampered by the reticence of its Western backers.

These reservations still appear to influence Washington’s thinking.

Biden’s loosening of restrictions applies only to some U.S. weapons and only in the Kharkiv region, U.S. officials told NBC News last week.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Monday that the government would hold “talks” with Kiev about further easing of restrictions, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested that the change in US policy would USA was still not enough.

Still, it could help Ukraine deter the Russians from making further incursions around Kharkiv, where their advance appears to have stalled.

Strikes against military targets on Russian soil, such as the one alleged by Vereshchuk, will make Ukraine’s defenses “more proactive and resilient,” helping to stabilize the front lines, said Mykola Bielieskov, a researcher at Ukraine’s National Institute for Strategic Studies, a government body research group.

“The Kremlin is bluffing when it threatens to have nuclear weapons,” Bielieskov said, adding that it would be difficult for the Kremlin to sell breaking the nuclear taboo in response to such attacks to a wider international audience.

“Therefore, we hope that this will become an additional incentive to remove restrictions on the use of ATACMS, which would be very useful for attacks on Russian airfields in the border region.”

This article was originally published in NBCNews. with