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President Joe Biden's administration has allowed Ukraine to use U.S.-made weapons to strike deep inside Russia, two U.S. officials and a source familiar with the decision said Sunday, marking a significant reversal of Washington's policy in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
Ukraine plans to carry out its first long-range strikes in the coming days, the sources said, without disclosing details due to operational security concerns.
The move comes two months before newly elected President Donald Trump takes office on January 20 and follows months of pleas from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to allow the Ukrainian military to use US weapons to hit Russian military targets far from the border.
“Today many in the media say that we have been given permission to take appropriate measures,” Zelenskyy said in a speech on Sunday evening.
“But attacks are not carried out with words. Such things are not announced. The missiles will speak for themselves.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned Western countries against supplying Ukraine with long-range missiles. He said NATO risks 'war' if they cross this red line. Andrew Rasiulis, a fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, joins Canada Tonight to debunk Putin's warning.
The change comes largely in response to Russia's deployment of North Korean ground troops to supplement its own forces, a development that has caused alarm in Washington and Kiev, a U.S. official and a source familiar with the decision said.
The White House and the US State Department declined to comment. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry and the president's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Russia has warned that it would view a move to relax restrictions on Ukraine's use of US weapons as a major escalation.
Ukraine's first deep strikes are likely to be carried out using ATACMS missiles, which have a range of up to 306 kilometers, according to the sources.
While some U.S. officials have expressed skepticism that allowing long-range strikes will change the overall trajectory of the war, the decision could help Ukraine at a time when Russian forces are making gains and potentially put Kiev in a better negotiating position when and if there is a ceasefire.
It is not clear whether Trump will reverse Biden's decision if he takes office. Trump has long criticized the extent of U.S. financial and military aid to Ukraine and has pledged to end the war quickly, without explaining how.
Some Ukrainians are expressing concern that Donald Trump's US election victory could mean an end to the country's support for Russia. Trump has publicly criticized sending billions in military aid to Ukraine and has said he could strike a deal to “end the war in one day.”
A Trump spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But one of his closest foreign policy advisers, Richard Grenell, criticized the decision.
“The wars will escalate before he leaves office,” Grenell said in an X post in response to the news.
Some Republicans in Congress had urged Biden to relax rules on how Ukraine can use US-supplied weapons.
Since Trump's election victory on November 5, senior Biden administration officials have repeatedly said they would use the remaining time to ensure Ukraine can fight effectively or negotiate peace with Russia from a “position of strength” next year.
'Much too late'
The US believes that more than 10,000 North Korean soldiers have been sent to eastern Russia and that most of them have moved to the Kursk region and begun to participate in combat operations.
Russia is making progress at its fastest pace since 2022 despite heavy losses, and Ukraine said it had clashed with some of the North Korean troops deployed in Kursk.
Pressured by personnel shortages, Ukraine's armed forces have lost some of the ground they captured in an August raid on Kursk, which Zelensky said could serve as a bargaining chip.
“Lifting targeting restrictions will allow Ukrainians to stop fighting with one hand tied behind their back,” said Alex Plitsas, senior nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council.
“But like everything else, I believe history will show that the decision came far too late. Just like the ATACMS, HIMARS, Bradley Fighting Vehicles, Abrams Tanks and F-16. They were all needed much sooner,” he said.
Despite Zelenskyy's pleas, the White House was reluctant to allow US-supplied weapons to be used to hit targets deep inside Russia, fearing it could escalate the conflict.
Russia launched a large-scale drone and missile attack on Ukraine on Sunday, attacking energy infrastructure and killing civilians. The attack came as fears grew over Moscow's plans to destroy Ukraine's power generation capacity as winter approaches.
Kiev's other allies have supplied weapons, but with restrictions on how and when they can be used inside Russia, such attacks could spark retaliatory measures out of concern that draw NATO countries into the war or provoke a nuclear conflict.
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski also called the move a response to North Korea's involvement.
“President Biden responded to the participation of North Korean troops in the war and the massive Russian missile attack in a language that V. Putin understands – by lifting restrictions on Ukrainian use of Western missiles,” Sikorski said on X.
