By Ryan Lovelace and David R. Sands – The Washington Times – Sunday, November 17, 2024

President Biden will permit Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied long-range missiles to strike deeper inside Russia, according to multiple media reports, lifting a long-standing ban put into place for fear it could provoke the Kremlin to respond.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has long lobbied for greater freedom to use U.S. weaponry. He said his forces are at a distinct disadvantage trying to hit back at Russian forces that have steadily been expanding their hold in parts of eastern and southern Ukraine.

The deployment of thousands of North Koreans this month to drive back a Ukrainian invasion force in Russia’s Kursk region also played a role in Mr. Biden’s apparent about-face, according to background sources cited by The Associated Press. The New York Times was the first to report the authorization of the long-range Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS, which has a range of up to 190 miles.

It was unclear whether the authorization was limited to the Kursk region or applied to the entire battle space along a more than 600-mile front. Russia did not immediately react, and Mr. Biden did not refer to the decision while on a South American tour Sunday.

Mr. Zelenskyy was coy about the reported shift in an address to the nation Sunday evening. He said the Russians would soon learn of any change on the battlefield.

“Today, many in the media are talking about the fact that we have received permission to take appropriate actions,” Mr. Zelenskyy said in his nightly address. “But blows are not inflicted with words. Such things are not announced. The rockets will speak for themselves.”

Ukraine intends to conduct its first long-range attacks within days, according to Reuters, citing three sources familiar with the matter.

President-elect Donald Trump has said he would bring a quick end to Russia’s war in Ukraine. He raised doubts that the tens of billions of dollars in U.S. aid that has gone to Ukraine in the fight will continue at the same pace.

Critics say Mr. Biden has slow-walked aid to Kyiv ever since the Russians invaded in February 2022. Mr. Biden has said he did not want to draw NATO and U.S. troops into a direct war with a nuclear-armed Russia. Top officials of the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin have repeatedly made veiled threats to resort to nuclear arms as the U.S. and its allies gradually stepped up military aid to the Ukrainian government.

Mr. Putin said last month that he hoped the Biden administration “had heard” his threats. He said the shift would effectively draw U.S. and Western troops directly into the war because Ukrainians lack the troops and expertise to operate the long-range weapons.

“Ukrainian troops cannot use these weapons on their own,” Mr. Putin told a state television interviewer. “Only specialists from NATO countries can do it because they need space intelligence, which Ukraine naturally does not have.”

Mr. Biden began to ease restrictions on the use of U.S.-supplied weapons on Russian soil after Russia launched a cross-border assault in May toward Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, according to the New York Times report.

Mr. Biden allowed Ukrainian forces defending the city to use the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, which has a range of about 50 miles, against Russian forces directly across the border. Mr. Biden still blocked the use of the longer-range ATACMS, which has a range of nearly 200 miles.

Mr. Biden will likely be criticized for waiting too long and moving too quickly.

Rep. Michael Turner, Ohio Republican and chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said Mr. Biden’s decision is “long overdue.”

“For months, I have called on President Biden to remove these restrictions,” Mr. Turner said. “President Biden should have listened to President Zelenskyy’s pleas much earlier.”

Sen. Roger F. Wicker of Mississippi, the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he was “encouraged” by the reports that Mr. Biden had changed his policy but added: “This does not excuse the administration’s deliberate slow-walking of items and assistance long authorized by Congress for use against Putin’s illegal aggression. This devastating conflict could have been ended on terms benefiting the U.S. and NATO if Mr. Biden had listened to the counsel of bipartisan majorities in the House and Senate.”

Jennifer Kavanagh, director of military analysis for the intervention-skeptical Defense Priorities think tank, called the reported U.S. shift “strategically unwise and operationally unnecessary” and predicted that Russia’s military would adjust to the threat by moving back vulnerable troops and weapons stocks.

“The move will not meaningfully improve Ukraine’s military position, but it will intensify U.S. and NATO entanglement in the conflict and worsen the risk of Russian escalation — including possible retaliation on U.S. or European targets …,” she said. “To really impose costs on Russia, Ukraine would need large stockpiles of ATACMS, which it doesn’t have and won’t receive because the United States’ own supplies are limited.”

Ukraine is struggling to hold back its bigger, better-armed neighbor in a war that has lasted far longer than almost anyone expected.

AP reported Sunday that Russia had launched a massive drone and missile attack on Ukraine. The assault targeted energy infrastructure and killed civilians.

Fears are mounting about Moscow’s intentions to devastate Ukraine’s power generation capacity ahead of winter.

Mr. Zelenskyy said Russia had launched a total of 120 missiles and 90 drones in a large-scale attack across Ukraine. Various types of drones were deployed, he said, including Iranian-made Shaheds, as well as cruise, ballistic and aircraft-launched ballistic missiles.

Ukrainian defenses shot down 144 out of a total of 210 air targets, Ukraine’s air force reported later.

“The enemy’s target was our energy infrastructure throughout Ukraine. Unfortunately, there is damage to objects from hits and falling debris. In Mykolaiv, as a result of a drone attack, two people were killed and six others were injured, including two children,” Mr. Zelenskyy said.

Serhii Popko, the head of Kyiv’s City Military Administration, told reporters that the combined drone and missile attack was the most powerful in three months.

• This article is based in part on wire service reports.

• Ryan Lovelace can be reached at [email protected].

• David R. Sands can be reached at [email protected].