Ukrainian forces are increasingly using U.S.-supplied long-range missiles to target Russian airfields and warships deep behind enemy lines, and while this has had some success inside Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory, they are barred by the United States from entering mainland Russia, limiting their ability to repel Russian attacks.
Last week, Kiev's military carried out three strikes using an army tactical missile system, known as ATACMS, against air defense systems and missile boats in Russian-occupied areas of eastern and southern Ukraine. The raids were reported by both sides and their effects were confirmed by an independent group that analyzes geolocated video footage of the battlefield.
Ukraine hopes the attack will cripple Moscow's ability to conduct military operations and ease the strain on troops struggling on the ground to stop a Russian advance, but the United States and other Western allies, fearing an escalation of the conflict, have allowed Western weapons to be fired only into Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine, not into Russia.
Ukrainian officials complain that the policy allows Moscow to launch attacks from inside Russia without risk and limits Ukraine's ability to strike back. “They are acting calmly, knowing that our partners have not given them permission to attack,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with The New York Times last week. “This is their great strength.”
Now, faced with Ukraine's difficulties on the battlefield, pressure is growing on the Biden administration to reverse that policy. The latest call came on Friday, with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg telling The Economist that “denying Ukraine the ability to use these weapons against legitimate military targets on Russian territory would make it extremely difficult for Ukraine to defend itself.”
Ukraine does not produce any powerful long-range weapons and must rely on its Western allies for them, but Washington has long refused to even provide it with ATACMS (pronounced “attack-ems”), fearing that doing so would cross one of the Kremlin's “red lines” and lead to an escalation.
That all changed late last year when President Biden approved sending Ukraine a version of ATACMS capable of striking targets up to 100 miles away. Then in April, Washington secretly delivered a new version of the weapon to Kiev with a range of about 190 miles.
And on Friday, the United States announced a $275 million military aid package for Kiev, including ammunition for the HIMARS rocket launchers capable of firing ATACMS missiles. Zelenskiy thanked the White House and said on social media that the package included “much-needed long-range missiles.”
The missiles have allowed Ukraine to strike Russian military logistics and command centers deep behind lines, with Kiev targeting airfields, munitions depots, anti-aircraft missile launchers and troop concentrations.
A particular target is the Russian-occupied Crimea Peninsula, a southeastern supply base for Russian troops and a launch pad for missile and drone attacks, with Moscow reporting multiple attacks using ATACMS missiles this month.
Last week, Ukrainian forces said they had attacked the Crimean port of Sevastopol, damaging a small missile boat, and the Washington-based think tank, the Institute for the Study of War, said satellite imagery from the aftermath of the attack likely showed damage to the vessel.
In early May, Ukrainian forces attacked a Russian air defense system near an airbase in Crimea, according to Oryx, a military analysis website that counts damage based on visual evidence.
But Ukraine's inability to fire weapons at Russian soil gives Moscow a major advantage, Ukrainian officials said, made even more clear this month as Russian forces opened a new front in Ukraine's northeastern region of Kharkiv. Ahead of the offensive, Moscow had been building up troops and equipment near the border, but allied policy forbade Ukraine from attacking Russia with Western weapons.
After nearly two weeks of heavy fighting, President Zelenskiy said Friday that the Russian military advance had stalled and the situation was under control. Still, the offensive marks Russia's biggest territorial gain in Ukraine since late 2022.