President Biden will permit Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied long-range missiles to strike deeper inside Russia, according to multiple media reports, lifting a longstanding ban put in place for fear it could provoke the Kremlin to respond.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has long lobbied for the greater freedom to use U.S. weaponry, saying his forces are at a distinct disadvantage trying to hit back at Russian forces that have steadily been expanding their hold in parts of eastern and southern Ukraine.
The deployment of thousands of North Koreans this month to drive back a Ukrainian invasion force in Russia’s Kursk region also played a role in Mr. Biden’s apparent about-face, according to background sources cited by the Associated Press. The New York Times was the first to report the authorization of the long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS, which have a range of up to 190 miles.
It was not clear if the authorization was limited to the Kursk region or applied to the entire battle space along a more than 600-mile front. There was no immediate reaction from Russia and Mr. Biden did not refer to the decision while on a South American tour Sunday.
Mr. Zelenskyy himself was coy about the reported shift in an address to the nation Sunday evening, saying the Russians would soon learn of any change on the battlefield.
“Today, many in the media are talking about the fact that we have received permission to take appropriate actions,” Mr. Zelensky said in his nightly address. “But blows are not inflicted with words. Such things are not announced. The rockets will speak for themselves.”
Ukraine intends to conduct its first long-range attacks within days, according to Reuters, citing three sources familiar with the matter.
Mr. Biden’s decision to permit the use of the weapons comes as President-elect Trump is preparing to take office and has said he would bring a quick end to Russia’s war in Ukraine, while raising fresh doubts that the tens of billions of dollars of U.S. aid that has gone to Ukraine in the fight will continue at the same pace.
Critics say Mr. Biden has slow-walked aid to Kyiv ever since the Russians first invaded in February 2022. Mr. Biden has openly said he did not want to draw NATO and American troops into a direct war with a nuclear-armed Russia. Top officials of the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin have repeatedly made veiled threats to resort to nuclear arms as the U.S. and its allies gradually stepped up military aid to the Ukrainian government.
Mr. Putin himself in October said he hoped the Biden administration “had heard” the threats he had made if Ukraine was given longer-range weapons, weapons that could strike at Russia’s vulnerable rear lines behind the front across eastern and southern Ukraine. He said the shift would effectively draw U.S. and Western troops directly into the war because Ukrainians lack the troops and expertise to operate the long-range weapons.
“Ukrainian troops cannot use these weapons on their own,” Mr. Putin told a state television interviewer. “Only specialists from NATO countries can do it, because they need space intelligence, which Ukraine naturally does not have.”
Mr. Biden began to ease restrictions on the use of U.S.-supplied weapons on Russian soil after Russia launched a cross-border assault in May toward Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, according to the New York Times report.
Mr. Biden allowed Ukrainian forces defending the city to use the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, which have a range of about 50 miles, against Russian forces directly across the border. But Mr. Biden still blocked the use of the longer-range ATACMS, which have a range of nearly 200 miles, at the time.
Mr. Biden, now on a South American trip, is likely to get criticism from both sides for the decision — for waiting too long and for moving too quickly.
House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Mike Turner said on Sunday that Mr. Biden’s decision is “long overdue.”
“For months, I have called on President Biden to remove these restrictions,” Mr. Turner, Ohio Republican, said in a statement. “President Biden should have listened to President Zelenskyy’s pleas much earlier.”
Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he was “encouraged” by the reports Mr. Biden had changed his policy, but added, “This does not excuse the administration’s deliberate slow-walking of items and assistance long authorized by Congress for use against Putin’s illegal aggression. This devastating conflict could have been ended on terms benefiting the U.S. and NATO if Mr. Biden had listened to the counsel of bipartisan majorities in the House and Senate.”
But Jennifer Kavanaugh, director of military analysis for the intervention-skeptical Defense Priorities think tank, called the reported U.S. shift “strategically unwise and operationally unnecessary,” and predicted Russia’s military would adjust to the threat by moving back vulnerable troops and weapons stocks.
“The move will not meaningfully improve Ukraine’s military position, but it will intensify U.S. and NATO entanglement in the conflict and worsen the risk of Russian escalation — including possible retaliation on U.S. or European targets,” she argued. “…To really impose costs on Russia, Ukraine would need large stockpiles of ATACMS, which it doesn’t have and won’t receive because the United States’ own supplies are limited.”
The U.S. debate has ground on even as Ukraine struggles to hold back its bigger, better-armed neighbor in a war that has lasted far longer than almost anyone expected.
The Associated Press reported that Russia on Sunday launched a massive drone and missile attack on Ukraine, described by officials as the largest in recent months, targeting energy infrastructure and killing civilians.
The attack came as fears are mounting about Moscow’s intentions to devastate Ukraine’s power generation capacity ahead of the winter.
Mr. Zelenskyy said that Russia had launched a total of 120 missiles and 90 drones in a large-scale attack across Ukraine. Various types of drones were deployed, he said, including Iranian-made Shaheds, as well as cruise, ballistic and aircraft-launched ballistic missiles.
Ukrainian defenses shot down 144 out of a total of 210 air targets, Ukraine’s air force reported later on Sunday, the AP reported.
“The enemy’s target was our energy infrastructure throughout Ukraine. Unfortunately, there is damage to objects from hits and falling debris. In Mykolaiv, as a result of a drone attack, two people were killed and six others were injured, including two children,” Mr. Zelenskyy said.
The combined drone and missile attack was the most powerful in three months, according to the head of Kyiv’s City Military Administration, Serhii Popko, told reporters.
— This article was based in part on wire service reports.
• Ryan Lovelace can be reached at rlovelace@washingtontimes.com.
• David R. Sands can be reached at dsands@washingtontimes.com.