Donald Trump's administration has lifted a key restriction on Ukraine's use of some long-range missiles provided by Western allies, allowing Kyiv to expand attacks on targets inside Russia.
Points of attention
- The Trump administration has lifted restrictions on Ukraine's use of Western long-range missiles to target Russian territory, as reported by insiders.
- The head of the Pentagon now has the authority to approve Ukrainian strikes on Russian targets using Western weapons, allowing for more active use of missiles like Storm Shadow.
- Despite the limited number of Storm Shadow missiles in Ukraine, the lifting of restrictions is expected to enable Ukraine to expand its attacks on Russian territory.
US lifts key restriction on Ukraine's strikes on Russia
This is reported by The Wall Street Journal, citing sources.
After the Trump administration came to power, the Pentagon established a procedure for approving Ukrainian strikes on Russian targets using Western missiles that rely on American targeting data.
Under this mechanism, the head of the Pentagon had the final say on whether Ukraine could use Western long-range weapons to strike Russia.
Ukraine did not receive any authorization to use Western missiles until recently, when, according to the WSJ, the authority to approve such attacks was returned to NATO's European Command, headed by American General Alexus Hrinkiewicz.
Ukraine carried out its first approved strike on October 21, when it used Storm Shadow to strike a Russian plant in Bryansk that produced explosives and rocket fuel.
WSJ interlocutors believe that lifting the restriction will not change the situation on the battlefield, in particular due to the small number of Storm Shadow missiles in Ukraine, but they expect their more active use to strike Russian targets.
One of the WSJ sources clarifies that the decision to lift the restrictions was made before Volodymyr Zelenskyy's meeting with Donald Trump at the White House last week.
At the time, it was expected that one of the key issues would be the possibility of providing Ukraine with Tomahawk cruise missiles. Zelensky said that he would offer Donald Trump a deal to receive Tomahawk cruise missiles in exchange for Ukrainian unmanned systems.
After the meeting, the media learned that Trump still did not agree to provide the missiles and the conversation was quite tense.
Later, US President Donald Trump called the news a lie.
The WSJ article that the US allowed Ukraine to use long-range missiles deep inside Russia is fake news. The US has nothing to do with these missiles, wherever they come from, or what Ukraine is doing with them.
