President Joe Biden reportedly authorized Ukraine to use long-range missiles supplied by the United States to conduct strikes inside Russian territory. Biden’s authorization comes after the United States had previously restricted Ukrainian strikes inside Russian territory.
Senior U.S. officials first confirmed the news of Biden’s authorization to The New York Times on Sunday. Fox News later reported that a senior U.S. official indicated that the long-range missiles will primarily be used in the Kursk region of Western Russia.
According to Fox News, an anonymous U.S. official said Biden’s authorization allowing Ukraine to strike deeper inside Russian territory with U.S.-supplied long-range missiles was made due to Russia’s deployment of roughly 10,000 North Korean soldiers in its fight against Ukraine in the Kursk region. Another anonymous U.S. official told the outlet that it was not yet clear whether Biden would allow Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied missiles in other regions besides Kursk.
Following Biden’s authorization on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky released a statement on X, formerly Twitter, saying, “The plan for strengthening Ukraine is the Victory Plan that I presented to our partners. One of its key elements is providing our army with long-range capabilities.”
Zelensky added, “There’s been much said in the media today that we have received approval to take relative actions. But strikes are not carried out with words. These things are not announced. The missiles will speak for themselves.”
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Fox News reported that the announcement of Biden’s authorization for Ukraine to use long-range missiles against Russian territory came shortly after Russia finished launching over 200 missiles and drones against Ukraine’s energy and power infrastructure.
According to Fox News, Russian President Vladimir Putin previously warned that if the United States authorized Ukraine to conduct long-range missile strikes inside Russia, it would be perceived as an act of war by the United States and NATO against Russia.
“Flight assignments for these missile systems can, in fact, only be entered by military personnel from NATO countries. Ukrainian servicemen cannot do this. And therefore, it is not a question of allowing the Ukrainian regime to strike Russia with these weapons or not,” Putin said in September. “It is a question of making a decision whether NATO countries directly participate in the military conflict or not.”
At the time, Putin added, “If this decision is made, it will mean nothing less than the direct participation of NATO countries, the United States, and European countries, in the war in Ukraine.”
Multiple sources recently reported that President-elect Donald Trump warned Putin against escalating the war in Ukraine following his 2024 election victory earlier this month.
