(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Politico reported Thursday that the Biden administration has quietly given Ukraine permission to use U.S. weapons to attack Russia on its own soil.
Citing three anonymous Pentagon officials, Politico reported that Ukraine asked the U.S. to make this policy change only after Russia’s offensive on Kharkiv began earlier this month.
“In effect, Ukraine can now use American-provided weapons, such as rockets and rocket launchers, to shoot down launched Russian missiles heading toward Kharkiv, at troops massing just over the Russian border near the city, or Russian bombers launching bombs toward Ukrainian territory,” Politico reported.
“It’s a stunning shift the administration initially said would escalate the war by more directly involving the U.S. in the fight. But worsening conditions for Ukraine on the battlefield –– namely Russia’s advances and improved position in Kharkiv –– led the president to change his mind.”
While Politico presented the development as completely new territory for the war, Ukraine has conducted numerous drone strikes on Russian territory since the latter’s invasion in February 2022—though it’s not clear whether U.S. weapons were involved in those attacks.
Last May, for instance, Ukraine reportedly tried to assassinate Vladimir Putin with a drone attack on the Kremlin.
Russia’s government reportedly called the attack an act of terrorism, and said it reserves the right to retaliate “anywhere and anytime it deems necessary.”
“We consider this a preplanned terrorist action and an attempt against the Russian president,” the Kremlin said at the time, according to Russia Today. The incident happened “ahead of Victory Day and the parade on May 9, when foreign guests plan to be present.” May 9 is the date Nazi Germany was officially defeated in 1945.
Classified Pentagon documents that were leaked on a Discord server last year also show that Ukraine likely attacked Russian territory with drones earlier in 2023.
The leaked documents reportedly show that on Feb. 28, 2023, Zelenskyy “suggested striking Russian deployment locations in Russia’s Rostov Oblast” with unspecified drones. That same day, two drones filled with explosives detonated inside Russian territory, igniting a fire at an oil depot.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
