Ukraine claims it struck missile system on Russian territory using Western weapons

Ukrainian forces claimed on Monday that they had successfully struck a Russian S-300 missile system using Western-supplied weapons inside Russian territory.

“It burns beautifully. It's a Russian S-300. On Russian territory. The first days after permission to use Western weapons on enemy territory,” Ukrainian Minister Iryna Vereshchuk posted on Facebook alongside a photo purporting to show the strike.

This comes just days after US President Joe Biden authorized Ukraine to carry out limited strikes using US weapons on Russian territory around Kharkiv, after several European countries lifted restrictions on how of which these weapons can be used.

It is unclear whether the weapons used in the strike described by Vereshchuk were supplied by the United States.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed Biden's decision to authorize some strikes on Russian territory as a “step forward” that will help his forces defend the besieged Kharkiv region, although some analysts question whether the new freedoms will strengthen considerably Ukraine's ability to repel the Russian invasion. .

Military analysts have tempered their expectations, in part because the United States steadfastly refuses Ukraine to use the most formidable munitions it has been given to fire on Russia: the long-range missiles known as of ATACMS, capable of hitting targets 300 kilometers (nearly 200 miles) away. ) far.

Instead, Ukraine can only use shorter-range missiles, known as GMLRS, which have a range of about 70 kilometers (about 40 miles).

While the lifting of this taboo seems to mark a new chapter in the war, Russia has already experienced Ukrainian strikes with Western weapons on the territories it claims.

Ukraine has frequently targeted occupied Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, using “Storm Shadow” missiles supplied by the United Kingdom.

Ukraine also launched strikes on Kharkiv and Kherson in late 2022, as it sought to liberate regions occupied by Russia in the first weeks of the war.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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