President Joe Biden’s administration has allowed Ukraine to use U.S.-made weapons to strike deep into Russia, two U.S. officials and a source familiar with the decision said on Sunday, in a significant reversal of 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 comes two months before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20 and follows months of pleas by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to allow Ukraine’s military to use U.S. weapons to hit Russian military targets far from its border.
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 Kyiv, a U.S. official and a source familiar with the decision said.
The White House and the State Department declined to comment. The Ukrainian foreign ministry and president’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Russia has warned that it would see a move to loosen the limits on Ukraine’s use of U.S. weapons as a major escalation.
Ukraine’s 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.