WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥 Ukraine鈥檚 military is allowed to use longer-range missiles provided by the U.S. to strike targets inside Russia across more than just the front lines near Kharkiv if it is acting in self-defense, the Pentagon said.
President Joe Biden initially on how Ukraine could use U.S.-provided munitions to give it another option to defend the eastern city of Kharkiv from a relentless barrage of Russian missiles. Since the beginning of Russia's 2022 invasion, the U.S. had maintained a policy of not allowing Ukraine to use the weapons it provided to hit targets inside Russia for fear of further escalating the war.
Russia has been firing on Ukrainian targets from inside its border, treating its territory as a 鈥渟afe zone," said Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary.
鈥淎s we see those forces conducting those types of operations from across the border, we鈥檝e explained Ukraine can and does have the right to fire back to defend themselves," Ryder told reporters Thursday.
The Pentagon said the additional permissions are not a new policy.
鈥淭his is not about geography. It鈥檚 about common sense,鈥 said spokesman Army Maj. Charlie Dietz. 鈥淚f Russia is attacking or about to attack from its territory into Ukraine, it only makes sense to allow Ukraine to hit back against the forces that are hitting it from across the border.鈥
鈥淎dditionally, they can use air defense systems supplied by the United States to take Russian planes out of the sky, even if those Russian planes are in Russian airspace, if they鈥檙e about to fire into Ukrainian airspace,鈥 Dietz said in a statement.
The White House also announced Thursday that it is interceptor missiles to Ukraine by redirecting shipments planned for other allied nations, as Washington scrambles to counter .
The U.S. was already sending Ukraine a consistent stream of interceptors for its air defense systems, including for the Patriot missile batteries and the 好色tv Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems, or .
好色tv security spokesman John Kirby told reporters that more was urgently needed as Russia鈥檚 military has accelerated missile and drone attacks against cities and infrastructure centers ahead of this winter. The rushed shipments are expected to include hundreds of Patriot missiles.
