WASHINGTON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden’s administration will allow Ukraine to use U.S.-provided weapons to strike deep into Russian territory, three sources familiar with the matter said, in a significant change to Washington’s policy in the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
Ukraine plans to conduct its first long-range attacks in the coming days, the sources said, without revealing details due to operational security concerns.
The move by the United States two months before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20 follows months of requests by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to allow Ukraine’s military to use U.S. weapons to hit Russian military targets far from its border.
The change follows Russia’s deployment of North Korean ground troops to supplement its own forces, a development that has caused alarm in Washington and Kyiv.
The first deep strikes are likely to be carried out using ATACMS rockets, which have a range of up to 190 miles (306 km), according to the sources.
If this is true, this is an act of absolute insanity on the part of Biden admin. This would be an act of war from Russian perspective. Russians repeatedly stated that these weapons can only be operated by NATO personnel, and the use of these weapons would mean direct attack by NATO on Russia. Furthermore, since tomahawks can carry a nuclear pay load, the launches of these missiles will be viewed as a nuclear attack. Russians aren’t gonna wait and see whether a nuclear capable missile actually had a nuke payload or not before they respond.