NATO downplays Kremlin threat over US weapons: 5 dead in Kharkiv

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Friday downplayed Kremlin threats of escalation after President Joe Biden secretly lifted restrictions on Ukraine over the use of U.S.-supplied weapons against targets located inside Russian territory, with five people killed in a nighttime strike on Kharkiv.

The daily shelling of Ukraine's second-largest city has sparked a shift in the mindset of Washington, which has so far resisted allowing Ukraine to use longer-range U.S. weapons to attack Russian territory , fearing that this would draw NATO into direct conflict with Russia.

The Kremlin on Thursday accused the West of “entering a new phase of escalation of tensions.”

Stoltenberg, speaking to reporters at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Prague, responded that “this is part of the efforts of President (Vladimir) Putin and Moscow to prevent NATO allies to support Ukraine in self-defense, and, again, Ukraine has the right “for self-defense and we have the right to help Ukraine.”

U.S. officials said Thursday that Biden had lifted restrictions on Ukraine on using U.S.-supplied weapons against targets on Russian territory, but only to defend Kharkiv.

Overnight Russian strikes on a residential area in the city of Kharkiv killed five people and injured at least 23 others, including two children, regional police announced Friday, warning that residents could still be trapped under the rubble.

“The rescue and search operation continues. All services are working on the spot,” said Oleg Synyegubov, head of the military administration of the Kharkiv region.

Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov said there was “not a single soldier, not a single military object” present.

The town is located just across the border from the Russian city of Belgorod and is regularly attacked by Russian missiles.

Russian strikes that hit a hardware store in Kharkiv last weekend killed 16 people.

Across the border, in the southern region of Krasnodar, the Russian army announced on Friday that it had shot down 29 Ukrainian drones overnight which were targeting the port city of Novorossiysk and an oil depot in Temryuk.

The Temryuk strike sparked a fire that raged for several hours before being extinguished and injured several employees of the oil depot, Krasnodar region governor Veniamin Kondratyev wrote on the Telegram social media channel.

No injuries were reported in the attack in Novorossiysk, local authorities said.

– Restrictions lifted –

A U.S. official said Biden “recently directed his team to ensure that Ukraine is able to use U.S.-supplied weapons or counter fire.”

in the Kharkiv region so that Ukraine can retaliate against Russian forces attacking or preparing to attack them.

The official said ATACMS missiles, which could strike deeper inside Russia, were still banned.

A second US official confirmed the policy change, which followed weeks of behind-the-scenes discussions between the White House and senior US military and State Department officials.

Biden gave final approval in recent days, but the decision was kept secret for operational reasons and did not take effect until Thursday.

French President Emmanuel Macron insisted this week that Ukraine be allowed to “neutralize” Russian bases used to launch strikes.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz remained cool to the idea, even though his country promised Ukraine new military aid worth 500 million euros ($540 million) on Thursday.

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