The Ukrainian military has increasingly used long-range missiles supplied by the United States to target Russian airfields and warships deep behind enemy lines, a practice that has brought it some success at home. Ukraine occupied by Russia, but which Washington has forbidden it to expand. Russia itself, limiting its ability to repel Russian assaults.
Last week, kyiv’s forces launched three attacks using the army’s tactical missile systems, known as ATACMS. The air attacks – which hit an air defense system and a missile ship in Russian-occupied territory in eastern and southern Ukraine – were reported by both sides and their impact confirmed by independent groups which analyze geolocated images of the battlefield.
Ukraine hopes the strikes, by harming Moscow’s ability to carry out military operations, will ultimately help relieve troops struggling to contain Russian advances on the ground. But the United States and other Western allies have only authorized the firing of Western weapons into Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory, not Russia itself, for fear of an escalation of the war.
Ukrainian officials have complained that the policy allows Moscow to launch attacks from inside Russia without risk and limits Ukraine’s ability to repel them. “They are proceeding calmly, knowing that our partners do not give us permission” to strike, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a statement. interview with the New York Times last week. “That’s their huge advantage.”
NOW, pressure is mounting on the Biden administration to reverse this policy faced with Ukraine’s difficulties on the battlefield. The last call took place on Friday, with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told The Economist that denying “Ukraine the possibility of using these weapons against legitimate military targets on Russian territory makes it very difficult for it to defend itself.”
Ukraine does not produce powerful long-range weapons, making it dependent on its Western allies to procure them. But Washington had long refused to even provide ATACMS – pronounced “ems attack” – fearing that it could cross one of the Kremlin’s “red lines,” leading to escalation.
That changed late last year, when President Biden approved sending to Ukraine a version of the ATACMS capable of hitting targets 100 miles away. Then, in April, Washington secretly gave kyiv a new version of the weaponwith a range of approximately 190 miles.
And on Friday, the United States announced a A $275 million military program for kyiv which includes ammunition for HIMARS, a rocket launcher capable of firing ATACMS missiles. Mr. Zelensky thanked the White House, say on social media that the package included “much-needed long-range missiles.”
The missiles allowed Ukraine to reach logistical and command posts located far behind Russian lines. kyiv targeted airfields, ammunition depots, anti-aircraft missile launchers and troop concentrations.
A particular target has been the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula, a supply hub for Moscow’s forces in the southeast and a launching pad for missile and drone attacks. Moscow has reported several attacks involving ATACMS missiles this month.
Last week, Ukraine’s military said it struck the port of Sevastopol in Crimea and damaged a small missile ship. THE Institute for the Study of Wara Washington-based think tank said satellite images taken after the attack showed likely damage to the ship.
In early May, Ukrainian forces struck a Russian air defense system near an air base in Crimea, according to Oryx, a military analysis site which counts losses based on visual evidence.
But Ukraine’s inability to fire weapons at Russia itself has given Moscow a significant advantage, Ukrainian officials say, which became more evident when Russian forces this month opened a new front in the Kharkiv region, northeastern Ukraine. Before the offensive, Moscow had deployed troops and equipment near the border, but the allies’ policy prohibited Ukraine from targeting them with Western weapons.
After about two weeks of fierce fighting, Mr Zelensky said on Friday that the Russian advance was stalled and the situation was under control. However, the offensive allowed Moscow to make its biggest territorial gains in Ukraine since the end of 2022.
