Washington to let Kyiv use US-supplied weapons for strikes in Russia near Kharkiv
By VOA News May 30, 2024
The United States announced Thursday that it has given permission for Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied weapons to target Russia, but only near Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city.
The decision marks a major policy change. Until this development, President Joe Biden refused to permit Ukraine to use American weapons for assaults inside Russian territory.
The Ukrainian government began asking the United States to change the policy after Russia launched an offensive on Kharkiv earlier this month. The northeastern city is about 30 kilometers from the Russian border.
The policy of not allowing long-range strikes inside Russia with U.S.-supplied weapons, however, remains unchanged.
Kharkiv was the site of yet another attack around midnight on Thursday, when Russian forces shelled a five-story apartment building in the city. At least three people were killed and 16 others injured, regional authorities said.
At least two children were among those injured in the assault, regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov said.
At least three floors of the five-story building were destroyed. Syniehubov said residents might be trapped beneath the rubble.
Also on Thursday, Ukraine's military said that Russian forces attacked areas across Ukraine overnight with 19 missiles and 32 aerial drones, while Russia reported Ukrainian aerial and naval drone attacks.
The Ukrainian air force said the country's air defenses shot down all 32 of the drones, along with seven of the missiles.
Seven people were wounded in the air attacks in Kharkiv, regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov said. One man in a nearby village was killed, as was another in southern Kherson.
Serhiy Lysak, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region in central Ukraine, said seven of the drones were shot down there, with debris causing damage to a house and power lines.
Missile and drone intercepts also took place over the Cherkasy, Kherson, Khmelnytskyi, Kirovohrad, Kyiv, Odesa, Vinnytsia and Zaporizhzhia regions.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's military intelligence service said Thursday its special forces used underwater drones to destroy two Russian patrol boats in the Black Sea, off the Russian-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Russia's defense ministry said Thursday it destroyed five Ukrainian aerial drones over the southwestern region of Krasnodar.
Russian air defenses also shot down eight tactical missiles over the Sea of Azov and eight drones near the Russia-occupied Crimean Peninsula. Two Ukrainian naval drones heading toward Crimea were destroyed in the Black Sea, the Russian defense ministry said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video message late Wednesday that nearly 100 countries and international organizations are set to take part in a peace conference being held in mid-June in Switzerland.
Zelenskyy said his government has found support for the effort despite what he described as Russian attempts to derail the meeting.
"Russia is no longer in a position to disrupt the summit, although it is trying very hard to do so," Zelenskyy said. "It is putting pressure on leaders, openly threatening various states with destabilization. And this is one of the consequences of the world giving the terrorist state too much time."
Russia has not been invited to participate in the conference.
Ukraine is demanding Russia fully withdraw from Ukrainian territory before engaging in negotiations, while Russia has called for Ukraine to recognize its territorial gains.
NATO foreign ministers are expected to discuss the situation in Ukraine as they meet Thursday and Friday in Prague ahead of the U.S.-hosted NATO summit in July.
Some information for this report came from Reuters, The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse.
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