US approves long range missiles for Ukraine

President Joe Biden has authorized Ukraine to use long-range American missiles against military targets within Russia, a U.S. official confirmed to AFP on Sunday. This decision came just hours after Russia launched a deadly attack on Ukraine’s power grid. The policy shift, which had long been requested by Ukraine, was reportedly prompted by North Korea’s deployment of troops to assist Russia’s war effort.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had been urging Washington for permission to use the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) to strike Russian targets. Poland quickly supported the move, with Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski stating that Biden’s response to the Russian missile strike and North Korean involvement was a message Putin would understand. Sikorski emphasized that an aggressor’s victim has the right to defend itself.

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In his address on Sunday evening, Zelensky responded more cautiously, acknowledging reports about Ukraine’s new long-range missile capabilities but emphasizing that actions, not words, would speak for themselves. He suggested that the missiles would show the real impact of this development.