Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Joe Biden
Canberra: US President Joe Biden has given Ukraine the green light to use US-made long-range missiles. After this Ukraine fired missiles at Russia. It is believed that Ukraine did this because it could help it repel Russian forces trying to take back Russian territory. Ukraine may also appear strong here before Donald Trump takes over as US President in the White House. However, it is difficult to say anything about what direction the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine will take in the future.
Ukraine can attack deep into Russia
The missiles that the Joe Biden administration has allowed Ukraine to use have a range of about 300 kilometers. Earlier, the US had told Ukraine to use them only against Russian forces on Ukrainian territory. This has been a cause of great frustration for Ukraine, especially because it cannot use them against targets inside Russia from which there have been frequent missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities. Now Ukraine is capable of attacking the interior areas of Russia in the war.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy in War Zone
Is North Korea the reason?
The exact details of the change in US policy have not been made public. The permission to attack Russian territory will initially apply only to attacks on Russian forces massing in the Kursk area, The New York Times reported. Russia wants to regain more than 500 square kilometers of territory occupied by Ukraine. Western agencies believe there are several thousand North Korean soldiers among the 50,000 troops on the Russian side. North Korea’s involvement may be the main reason for lifting limits on ATACMS.
President Putin has made his stance clear
It is also worth noting that the presence of North Korean troops on the Russian side may prove to justify America’s decision and this also removes concerns that Russia will call this a step to increase tension. It is also being said that the possibility of direct conflict between Russia and NATO has been averted till now due to America’s vigilance. Russian President Vladimir Putin has already said that allowing Western weapons to attack Russia would amount to NATO’s ‘direct participation’ in the war. The Kremlin this week reacted predictably to the US announcement, saying it would “add fuel to the fire” of war.
Vladimir Putin
Weapons will be available from here also
Due to US sanctions on the use of ATACMS, Britain and France had imposed similar restrictions on the use of Ukraine’s Storm Shadow and Scalp missiles, which have a strike range of 250 kilometers. It seems that with this step of America, Britain and France will also take similar steps in relaxing those limits. Weapons could also come to Ukraine’s arsenal from Germany, where the Greens, Social Democrats and opposition Christian Democrats support greenlighting the supply of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine, which have a range of 500 kilometers. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has put it on hold so far.
understand this also
Washington officials have recently claimed that ATACMS will be of limited use now that Russia has moved most of its major weapons, especially jet fighters, out of their range. However, some military analysts believe that there are still many military targets within the range, perhaps numbering in the hundreds. These include command and communication posts, logistics centres, weapons depots, missile units and helicopter detachments. (The Conversation)
Also read:
First missiles, now anti-personal land mines, is America going to play a bigger role in the Russia-Ukraine war?
Russia Ukraine War: Warning of Russian attack, US embassy closed in Kiev
