Ukraine has used US weapons to strike inside Russia in recent days, according to a US senator and a western official familiar with the matter.
The weapons were used under recently approved guidance from Joe Biden allowing American arms to be used to strike inside Russia for the limited purpose of defending Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city.
The official was not authorized to comment publicly on the sensitive matter and spoke on condition of anonymity. The Republican senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota, a member of the Senate armed services committee, confirmed the strikes with US weapons, but did not say how he was briefed.
Biden’s directive allows for US-supplied weapons to be used to strike Russian forces that are attacking or preparing to attack. It does not change US policy that directs Ukraine not to use American-provided army tactical missile systems (ATACMS) or long-range missiles and other munitions to strike offensively inside Russia, US officials have said.
Confirmation that US weapons had been used to hit targets in Russia came as Vladimir Putin warned Germany that a similar use of its weapons by Ukraine would mark a “dangerous step” and ruin relations between Berlin and Moscow.
Berlin also recently authorized Ukraine to hit some targets on Russian soil with the long-range weapons Germany is supplying to Kyiv.
In an interview with representatives of foreign news outlets on Wednesday, Putin said: “Now if they use [German] missiles to strike facilities on the Russian territory it will completely ruin Russian-German relations.”
Ukrainian officials had stepped up calls on the US and other allies to allow Kyiv’s forces to defend themselves against attacks originating from Russian territory. Kharkiv sits just 20km (12 miles) from the Russian border and has come under intensified Russian attack.
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In advancing in the north-east Kharkiv region, Russian forces have exploited a lengthy delay in the replenishment of US military aid. In addition, western Europe’s inadequate military production has slowed crucial deliveries to the battlefield for Ukraine.
The White House national security spokesperson, John Kirby, told reporters on Tuesday that he could not confirm that Ukraine had used US weapons at targets in Russia.
“We’re just not in a position on a day-to-day basis of knowing exactly what the Ukrainians are firing at what,” Kirby said. “It’s certainly at a tactical level.”
According to a 3 June report from the Institute for the Study of War, Ukrainian forces struck a Russian S-300/400 air defense battery in the Belgorod region, likely with a high mobility artillery rocket system, or Himars, on 1 or 2 June. The air defense system was located roughly 60km (40 miles) from the current frontline in the northern Kharkiv region and more than 80km from the city of Kharkiv, which is within the range of Himars, the institute reported.
Confirmation of the strikes comes as Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, visited Qatar, which along with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates has been a key mediator in prisoner swaps and other negotiations between Russia and Ukraine since the war began.
Rounds said he agreed with Biden’s decision to allow US weapons to be used for strikes against Russia under limited circumstances.
“I have no problem with Ukraine using the ATACMS and so forth and all the artillery that we got to be able to take them out before they cause more harm in Ukraine,” he said.