WASHINGTON (AP) — Ukraine’s military is authorized to use U.S.-supplied long-range missiles to strike targets inside Russia beyond the front lines near Kharkiv if Kiev is acting in self-defense, the Pentagon said.
President Joe Biden initially loosened restrictions about how Ukraine could use U.S.-supplied munitions to give it another option to better defend the eastern city of Kharkiv from a relentless barrage of Russian missiles. Since the start of the Russian invasion in 2022, the US has maintained a policy of not allowing Ukraine to use the weapons it supplied to hit targets inside Russia, for fear of further escalation of the war.
Russia has been firing at Ukrainian targets within its border, treating their area as a “safe zone,” said Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary.
“As we see these forces conducting these types of operations across the border, we explain that Ukraine can and has the right to return fire to defend itself,” Ryder told reporters on Thursday.
The White House also announced Thursday that it is rushed delivery of air defense interceptor missiles to Ukraine, redirecting planned shipments to other allied nations as Washington struggles to combat increase in Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
The US was already sending Ukraine a consistent flow of interceptors for its air defense systems, including for the Patriot missile batteries and the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems, or NASAMS.
National security spokesman John Kirby told reporters that more is urgently needed as the Russian military has accelerated missile and drone attacks on cities and infrastructure centers ahead of this winter. The rushed shipments are expected to include hundreds of Patriot missiles.
