Ukraine can now use Western weapons to strike inside Russia | Russia-Ukraine War

Kyiv, Ukraine – Denys, a soldier in kyiv on leave from Ukraine's eastern front, is outraged at the time it takes for each shipment of Western weapons to arrive in the country.

“There is always a 'no' first: no tanks. No missiles. No fighter jets,” he told Al Jazeera, repeatedly referring to the fact that Western allies have refused to supply certain types of weapons to Ukraine or strictly regulated their use. Dionysius hid his surname and the location of his military unit in accordance with wartime regulations.

“And every 'no' costs lives. Not just ours. We are big boys, we have seen a little of life, but that of children, little children burned alive or reduced to pieces…” says the young man of 27, on the verge of screaming, standing between a flowering lime tree. . and an ice cream kiosk in the center of kyiv. “And then there's a 'maybe, maybe', and it lasts for months, and then there's a 'yes', but it's always too late.”

Eventually, Western countries agreed to provide tanks, missiles and fighter jets – but after excruciating, lengthy deliberations that cost lives, he said.

The latest “yes” from the United States and nearly a dozen Western countries, following Russia's recent advance and the incessant bombing of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, grants them permission to 'use the advanced weapons they have provided – or will soon provide – to strike inside Russia.

Washington and its allies have been afraid of antagonizing Russia, whose President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly suggested that the use of nuclear weapons was on the table in case Ukraine or the West crossed a new “red line.” », such as the bombing of Crimea and Russia. Putin's pet project, a bridge that connects him to mainland Russia.

But Ukraine has already crossed many military and political Rubicons, including the expulsion of Russian troops from occupied areas and drone strikes on airfields, military bases, ports and oil depots in the Russian heartland. These actions left Moscow angry, but not angry enough to resort to nuclear weapons.

The latest Western “yes”, which came on Thursday and followed months of pleas from kyiv, is more of a “yes, but”.

The White House said kyiv could begin using US-supplied weapons for “limited strikes” in Russia – but only in areas adjacent to the northeastern Kharkiv region, located along the Russian border. .

Russian forces seized the region and its eponymous administrative capital in early 2022, but were driven out months later following a maneuver orchestrated by the current Ukrainian general, Oleksandr Syrskii.

Moscow resumed its attempts to take Kharkiv in early May, seizing several border villages near Russia's Belgorod region to the west. Existing artillery in the area allowed troops to advance on Ukrainian targets and then retreat to Russian soil, where they knew they would be safe from Ukrainian defense forces.

The White House's final “yes, but” applies to air defense systems, artillery and guided rockets. Long-range missile strikes are still prohibited.

Other Western weapons that can now be used to strike Russia include 24 Dutch F-16 fighter jets armed with long-range missiles, as well as Soviet-era jets supplied by Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia and North Macedonia – countries which have also granted their authorizations recently. days.

Ukrainian pilots will soon complete their months-long training to fly F-16s and could conduct their first sorties within weeks. Until now, their missions should have been limited to Ukrainian airspace. No more.

The jets – along with a handful of Soviet Ukrainian planes – will be free to launch French-made air-launched cruise missiles, known as Autonomous Long-Range Cruise System (SCALP) EG missiles.

The UK has not yet given permission to use the SCALP's almost identical sister missile, Storm Shadow, but has already authorized the use of its attack drones on Russian soil. Turkey has also authorized Ukraine to use its Bayraktar drones there.

The United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Norway have already provided Ukraine with ground launchers for HIMARS and ATACMS missiles, which initially proved effective in strikes on annexed Crimea and regions occupied Ukrainians.

But in recent weeks, Russia has begun using advanced electronic jamming systems to render these satellite-guided missiles – as well as GPS-guided Excalibur artillery shells – ineffective.

“They [Russians] made a lot of progress,” said Lieutenant General Ihor Romanenko, former deputy chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. “We take this seriously. We need to create our own means of removing their electronic jamming and create our own jamming systems,” he told Al Jazeera.

But Western authorization will hardly change the situation.

“No situation will be reversed. In the coming months we will talk about containing Russia,” kyiv-based analyst Igar Tyshkevych told Al Jazeera.

This authorization follows Western attempts to “find compromises with Russia,” he said. “This is slowly changing because Russia is showing its true face: an empire trying to pursue policies consistent with 19th century models. »

The move follows “barbaric and constant shelling” of Kharkiv and other border towns and Russia's plans to launch an offensive in northern Ukraine, at the forest junction of the Kharkiv and Sumy regions, a said Nikolay Mitrokhin, a researcher at the German University of Bremen.

The offensive against Kharkiv could begin within weeks after the deployment of tens of thousands of newly enlisted and trained Russian troops.

“Ukrainian forces do not have enough resources to cover the border and will have to strike from forests quite far from the border,” Mitrokhin told Al Jazeera.

Ukraine faces a serious shortage of new military personnel. For months, President Volodymyr Zelensky's government postponed mobilization, fearing public outcry, and did not let battle-hardened and battle-weary veterans demobilize. The troop shortage has coincided with a depletion of weapons and ammunition after months of delays in Western supplies.

In recent weeks, conscription and police teams have arrested thousands of men in public places, from subway stations to traffic jams.

“There is hope that Ukraine will succeed in destroying Russian columns at the stage of marching and artillery equipped with multiple rocket launch systems at the stage of their deployment,” Mitrokhin said.