In a dramatic move, US President Joe Biden gave Ukraine clearance to use the weapons provided by the United States to strike Russian troops in the Kharkiv area, which is some 20 miles away from Russia’s border. This is in consideration of the fact that Russian forces have registered some recent advances in the region.
According to US officials, the Biden administration has instructed its team to guarantee that Ukraine can use such weapons to act in a “counter-fire capacity” so it can “target Russian forces targeting them or about to target them.” Nevertheless, the newly established strategy lacked key strikes within Russian territory.
When queried concerning the abilities of Ukraine to shoot down a Russian aircraft over Crimean land, a US official retorted by stating that the US has never told Ukrainians “they couldn’t shoot down a Russian airplane over Russian territory that has intended to attack them.
The change of approach in this particular respect is transparent: Prior US policy, for instance, did not allow using weapons systems like the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) to launch attacks within Russia. This decision corresponds with the latest escalation of the UK signaling that it will ease the restrictions for Ukraine concerning how they use Western-supplied weapons, a rhetoric shared by a few European leaders.
The situation in the Kharkiv region continues to worsen, and this has already led to death of civilians, particularly in the recent attack where elements belonging to the Russian forces attacked a supermarket and an apartment building. The Ukrainian government has claimed that Russian troops are committing human shields by independently targeting and using ‘double tap methodology.
