The White House has given Ukraine permission to fire US-supplied long-range ballistic missiles at targets inside Russia for the first time, as Kyiv’s forces in the Kursk border region battle Russian units supported by troops sent from North Korea.
US president Joe Biden approved Ukraine’s use of the Atacms missiles, which have a range of about 300km, two months before he leaves office and after resisting pressure on the issue from Kyiv for much of this year, US media outlets reported.
Mr Biden’s administration repeatedly rejected Ukraine’s requests to use Atacms inside Russia over fears that it could further escalate Europe’s biggest war since 1945, and amid repeated warnings from the Kremlin that granting Kyiv permission to use such long-range weapons would make western states direct parties to the conflict.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the request for clearance to strike military targets deeper inside Russia was one of the “main points” of the so-called victory plan that he presented to Mr Biden and other western leaders last month.
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“Today, many in the media are saying we have received permission to take appropriate actions. But blows are not inflicted with words. Such things are not announced. The rockets will speak for themselves,” he told the nation in an address on Sunday night.
Britain and France are believed to be in favour of allowing Kyiv to use the long-range cruise missiles that they supply, known as Storm Shadow and Scalp respectively, against targets inside Russia, but only if the US gave approval on Atacms.
Kyiv will hope that Mr Biden’s move prompts similar decisions from London and Paris and increases pressure on Germany to supply its powerful Taurus long-range cruise missile.
Mr Biden’s change of heart was triggered in part by the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia, according to the New York Times, which broke the story.
Ukrainian, US and South Korean intelligence agencies say that at least 10,000 North Korean troops have been sent to Russia under a mutual defence pact signed recently, some of whom have already clashed with Kyiv’s forces in the Kursk region.
Unnamed US officials told the New York Times that Ukraine was likely to use Atacms for the first time to defend its troops against Russian and North Korean forces in Kursk, and that Mr Biden could also authorise strikes on other regions of Russia.
Reuters quoted unnamed sources as saying Kyiv planned to carry out those first strikes in the coming days.
Kyiv has been frustrated that allies have been reluctant or slow to provide it with certain weapons, even as Russia has received attack drones from Iran from the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and is now being supplied with artillery shells, missiles and troops by Pyongyang.
It is not clear whether US president-elect Donald Trump will support or revoke Mr Biden’s decision when he returns to the White House in January. He has said he can stop the war in one day, without explaining how.
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