KHARKIV REGION, Ukraine — Weeks after the decision allowing Ukraine to use US-supplied weapons for limited attacks on Russian territory, the country is having some success in stopping Russia’s new advance along the northeastern front, but military commanders are clamoring for it to be stopped. lift restrictions on long-range missiles. .
Deteriorating battlefield conditions forced the United States to allow Ukraine to use Western-supplied artillery and rocket systems to defend the eastern city of Kharkiv targeting border regions where Kremlin forces gather and launch attacks. The impact was swift: Ukrainian forces pushed back Russian positions, bought time to better fortify their own positions, and even mounted small offensive actions.
But commanders said that without the ability to use long-range guided missiles, such as ATACMS, their hands are tied.
“We could target the command points of the (Russian) brigades and the entire northern group, because they are located 100 to 150 kilometers from the front line,” said Hefastus, an artillery commander in the Kharkiv region who uses his indicative. “Normal ammunition can’t reach them. With this guy, we can do a lot to destroy their command centers.”
The Ukrainian commanders interviewed spoke on the condition that their callsigns be used, in accordance with brigade rules.
The United States expanded the scope of its policy of allowing counterattacks in a broader region on Friday. But the Biden administration has not lifted restrictions on Ukraine that prohibit the use of U.S.-provided ATACMS to strike inside Russian territory, according to three U.S. officials familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly. . The United States began providing Ukraine with long-range ATACMS earlier this year, but with rules, including that they cannot be used to attack inside Russia and must be used within sovereign territory, which includes land confiscated by the Russians.
This prevents attacks on airfields and military infrastructure in Russia’s rear, underscoring a common complaint in Ukraine that Western allies, eager to potentially provoke Russia, are undermining Ukraine’s ability to fight effectively.
Ukrainian officials are pushing U.S. allies to be able to strike particular high-value targets inside Russia using ATACMS, which can reach more than 100 kilometers (62 miles).
“Unfortunately we still cannot reach, for example, the airfields and their planes. This is the problem,” Yehor Cherniev, deputy chairman of the parliamentary committee on national security, defense and intelligence, said earlier this month. “That is why we ask (the allies) to lift restrictions on the use of long-range missiles against limited military targets on the territory of Russia.”
Since late May, Ukraine has been able to attack Russian troops and air defense systems within 20 kilometers (12 miles) of the border in the Kharkiv region. Moscow opened a new front in the region on May 10, capturing village after village in a sweeping advance that caught Ukrainian troops off guard.
While not a panacea, the move has greatly slowed Russia’s momentum, even allowing Ukrainian troops to advance along the northeastern border, including recently recapturing areas southwest of Vovchansk, according to local reports. Brigades there said the Army’s high-mobility rocket systems, or HIMARS, were fired hours after they were granted permission, destroying an air defense complex equipped to launch the deadly missiles.
At the time, the stakes were high as Ukrainian military leaders anticipated another assault designed to divert troops from other intense battlefields in the Donetsk region. First Deputy Defense Minister Ivan Havryliuk told The Associated Press that at least 90,000 Russian troops on Russian territory were preparing for a new assault.
“The HIMARS were not silent all day,” Hefastus said, recalling the first few hours when permission to use the rocket systems was granted. “From the first days, Ukrainian forces managed to destroy entire columns of troops along the border waiting for the order to enter Ukraine.”
“Before we couldn’t attack them. It was quite complicated. All warehouses with ammunition and other resources were located 20 kilometers away from where we could reach,” he said.
The dynamic changed almost immediately, allowing Ukrainian forces to stabilize that part of the front line. Soldiers near a strategic area north of Kharkiv, where fighting is underway to push back Russian troops, said enemy troops had pushed back positions several kilometers. Such claims could not be independently verified.
“Tactics have changed” as a result of Ukraine’s improved strike capability, said Kalina, platoon commander of the Khartia Brigade. Previously, they could only attack incoming infantry assaults; Now, they can use more artillery against Russian firing points.
The US decision came at the last minute, after much lobbying by Ukrainian officials and just as troops were preparing for combat in anticipation of Russia opening a new front in the northeast.
Ukrainian officials hope to convince American allies to allow the use of ATACMS against specific targets.
“It seems quite absurd when the enemy so actively advances into our territory and attacks with all types of missiles and calibers on Ukrainian territory and we cannot counterattack inside enemy territory, where they have logistics and supplies,” said Lys Mykyta, the commander. from a drone company of the 103rd Territorial Defense Brigade.
But Ukrainian officials said only desperate battlefield conditions are likely to convince U.S. officials to lift the restriction.
The renewed invasion of the Kharkiv region, which attracted precious Ukrainian reserves, pushed the United States to change its mind by allowing self-defense attacks on Russian territory, Cherniev said.
“The decision on ATACMS will probably also be changed based on the situation on the ground,” he said. “I hope the decision will be made as soon as possible.”
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Associated Press writers Volodymyr Yurchuk in kyiv, and Aamer Madhani, Matt Lee and Tara Copp in Washington, DC, contributed to this report.
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