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US President Joe Biden has cleared Kyiv to use long-range American missiles against military targets inside Russia, a US official told AFP on Sunday, hours after Russia targeted Ukraine’s power grid in a deadly barrage.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, was confirming reports from The New York Times and The that the major policy shift — long demanded by Ukraine — was in response to North Korea deploying troops to help Moscow’s war effort.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has long pushed for authorization from Washington to use the powerful Army Tactical Missile System, known by its initials ATACMS, to hit targets inside Russia.
Poland was among the first to welcome the development.
“With the entry into the war of North Korea troops and (Sunday’s) massive attack of Russian missiles, President Biden responded in a language that (Russian President) V.Putin understands,” Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski posted on X.
“The victim of aggression has the right to defend himself,” he added.
Zelensky’s response, in his evening address Sunday, was more muted, referring to the military’s “long range capability” as one of the main points of Ukraine’s victory plan.
“Today, there are many media reports that we have received permission to take appropriate actions,” he said.
“But strikes are not made with words. Such things are not announced. The missiles will speak for themselves. Definitely.”
News of Biden’s decision came hours after Ukraine announced nationwide emergency power restrictions from Monday after Russia’s massive attack, which killed 11 civilians and further damaged the country’s already fragile energy grid.
Another 10 people were killed, including two children, in another strike Sunday evening in the northeast town of Sumy.
