Washington [US], November 26: The White House confirmed that Ukraine could use long-range ATACMS missiles to attack targets around Russia's Kursk province.
The White House officially confirmed on November 25 that it had allowed Ukraine to use the ATACMS missiles provided by the US to attack Russian territory. Previously, many international officials and the media had reported on this change in stance, but only now has the administration of US President Joe Biden broken its silence.
Last week, Ukraine reportedly launched a barrage of ATACMS missiles into Russia's Bryansk region, according to RT.
"They can use ATACMS to defend themselves on an as-needed basis. We have changed our guidance and [allowed] Ukraine to use missiles to attack specific types of targets in and around Kursk," White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on November 25.
The change in Washington comes as Mr Biden is about to leave office and Mr Donald Trump is re-elected president.
In September, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Ukraine's use of long-range weapons would change the nature of the conflict and make NATO a direct party. He said that Ukraine could not use weapons such as ATACMS or Storm Shadow cruise missiles supplied by the UK without the intervention of NATO personnel.
Last week, Russia launched its Oreshnik hypersonic ballistic missile into Ukraine for the first time in response to the incident. Putin called it a combat test of a new weapon and said the exercise would continue depending on the situation.
The British government also allowed Ukraine to use Storm Shadow to attack Russian territory last week, and the first attack was carried out a day after the ATACMS launch on Bryansk, according to Bloomberg.
Britain and the United States said the change of stance was in response to the deployment of North Korean troops to fight alongside Russia against Ukraine. Russia and North Korea have so far not commented on the involvement of North Korean troops.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot also confirmed on November 24 that Ukraine could use French long-range missiles on Russian territory for reasonable self-defense purposes, according to DW. France has provided SCALP missiles (another name for Storm Shadow) to Ukraine. Storm Shadow/SCALP missiles have a range of 250 km while ATACMS has a range of 300 km.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper