In a major shift in U.S. policy in the Ukraine-Russia conflict, President Joe Biden's administration authorized Ukraine to use U.S. weapons to attack Russian territory.
According to the report, the US administration has lifted sanctions that prevented Ukraine from using US-supplied weapons to attack Russian soil.
“Ukraine plans to launch long-range strikes in Russia in the coming days,” the source said, without giving details due to operational security concerns. The White House declined to comment on the matter.
The U.S. move, which comes just two months before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20, 2025, comes after months of requests from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi that the Ukrainian military Allow US weapons to be used to target Russian military targets across the border.
The change follows Russia's deployment of North Korean ground troops to support its military, a development that has alarmed Washington and Kiev.
According to the sources, attacks on Russian soil are likely to be carried out by long-range ATACMS rockets, which have a range of up to 190 miles (306 km).
Although some U.S. officials have expressed concern that allowing long-range strikes would change the overall nature of the war, the decision could help Ukraine at a time when Russian forces are making gains and This could potentially put Kiev in a better negotiating position when it comes to a ceasefire.
It is unclear whether Donald Trump will reverse Joe Biden's decision when he takes office. He has long criticized the scale of US financial and military aid to Ukraine and has vowed to end the war quickly, but has not said how that would be possible.
Russia has warned that it would view any easing of US arms embargoes by Ukraine as fueling the conflict.
