USA allows Ukraine to use its weapons to attack Russian forces not only in the Kharkiv region

UKRAINE, June 20 – Ukraine can use American weapons to defeat any Russian forces attacking the border, not just those near the Kharkiv region, Politico wrote, citing U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and two U.S. officials who asked not to be identified.

Politico reported that the officials made the announcement just weeks after the US gave Kyiv the green light to attack Russia in response to a cross-border attack on the city of Kharkiv. At the time, US officials stressed that the policy was limited to the Kharkiv region.

Since then, as Politico has found, Ukrainian forces have used American weapons to attack inside Russia at least once, destroying targets in Belgorod and repelling a Russian offensive.

They also report that European and Ukrainian politicians continued to pressure the US to further ease its restrictions to allow Ukraine to strike anywhere in Russia.

Jake Sullivan told PBS on June 18 that the agreement with Ukraine to use American weapons against Russia extends to “any place where Russian forces come across the border from the Russian side to the Ukrainian side to try to take more Ukrainian territory.”

Oleh Syniehubov, governor of Kharkiv Oblast, said on Ukrainian television on June 13 that the number of Russian attacks in Kharkiv had dropped significantly after the Ukrainian military destroyed four S-300 launch pads in the Belgorod region of Russia.

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• The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported on June 12 that Ukrainian forces attacked one S-300 air defense battery and two S-400 air defense batteries near occupied Belbek and Sevastopol in Crimea overnight.