United States: US President Joe Biden has eased ban on the country employing US weaponry inside Russian territory to assist Ukraine in fending off an invasion of its northeastern Kharkiv region.
Speaking under oath, a number of US officials informed various media outlets on Thursday that Kyiv will be permitted to employ the weaponry on the border of the Kharkiv region, which was subject to a fresh round of Russian attacks earlier this month.
Biden’s decision, which comes as France and other European nations have signaled that Ukraine will be permitted to deploy its weapons on military targets within Russia, represents a change in policy from his previous refusal to allow Kyiv to use US weaponry outside of its boundaries.
Tuesday during the discussion, Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed his nation’s nuclear might and threatened “serious consequences” if Ukraine’s Western partners relaxed their stance.
Biden’s decision, which gives Kyiv permission to attack military targets on the border with the Kharkiv region—where Russia has taken control of several villages since May 10 and forced hundreds of civilians to flee—was met with no immediate response from Moscow.
Amidst a spike in attacks this month, especially on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, which is just 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the Russian border, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine has been pleading with his allies to permit Kyiv to utilize their longer-range weapons to strike targets on Russian land.
At least three persons were killed and sixteen injured in a Russian attack that occurred at midnight (21:00 GMT) when a Russian missile struck an apartment building in the city. A Russian attack on a retailer that sold hardware last weekend resulted in the deaths of 19.