Ukraine says increased use of Western weapons will weaken Russia near its border

kyiv (Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's chief of staff said on Tuesday that using Western weapons to strike inside Russia was a vital decision that would impact Moscow's tactical aviation and on its ability to operate in border areas.

Following pressure from Ukraine and some of its European allies, the United States agreed last week to change its policy and allow kyiv to strike inside Russia with Western weapons as part of its campaign to repel the full-scale Russian invasion.

kyiv said the move would help repel Russian advances and better defend territory in the region northeast of Kharkiv.

“Allowing the use of Western weapons on the territory of the Russian Federation is a vital decision,” Andriy Yermak said on the Telegram messaging app.

“This will impact the conduct of the war, the planning of counter-offensive actions and weaken the Russians' ability to use their forces in border areas.”

The move would also help better repel Russian air attacks, Yermak said.

Ukraine has frequently targeted occupied Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, with Western-made weapons.

But, at a disadvantage and undermanned on the battlefield, kyiv had begged Washington to allow it to strike targets on Russian soil with American-made weapons, as Moscow launched a new front in the northeastern region of Kharkov.

Kharkiv, the country's second-largest city with around 1.3 million inhabitants, is about 30 km from the Russian border.

U.S. administration officials say the latest decision was narrowly tailored to the battle in the Kharkiv region. They say this allows kyiv to use U.S.-supplied weapons to retaliate against Russian forces “attacking or preparing to attack” them from across the border.

Ukraine is also trying to develop its own weapons – focusing primarily on drones – to hit targets in Russia. Some Ukrainian drones have attacked Russian oil installations and military targets hundreds of kilometers from the border.

One of the most significant attempted drone attacks was an attack on a long-range radar station in the town of Orsk, located 1,800 km (1,115 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

(Reporting by Yuliia Dysa and Olena Harmash; editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Mark Heinrich)