WASHINGTON, November 26. /TASS/. The US administration has provided the Ukrainian armed forces with instructions on selecting targets for strikes with American ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.
When asked about ATACMS missile strikes deep into Russian territory, the spokesman began to say that "nothing has changed about" the use of the missiles, but then broke off and emphasized: "Obviously, we did change the guidance and gave them guidance that they could use them to strike these particular types of targets." "Right now, they (the Ukrainian servicemen - TASS) are able to use ATACMS to defend themselves on an immediate need basis," Kirby said.
The New York Times reported on November 17, citing sources, that US President Joe Biden had authorized the use of US-supplied ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles for strikes inside Russia. After that, the US administration did not publicly recognize, but did not deny the reliability of this information either. Top EU diplomat Josep Borrell confirmed that the US administration had lifted restrictions on the use of US-supplied missiles for strikes up to 300 kilometers inside Russia. He noted that the issue had been discussed at a meeting of EU foreign ministers, but the parties had failed to reach a consensus on lifting the restrictions and decided that each member state would decide for itself.
Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized on September 12 that Ukraine is unable to strike deep into Russian territory without Western assistance because it needs satellite intelligence and flight missions to do so. On November 21, he said that the United States and its NATO allies had previously announced that they would allow Ukraine to use long-range weapons to strike inside Russia, prompting American and British missiles to hit Russian military facilities in the Kursk and Bryansk Regions. Putin noted that Russia responded to these attacks by firing Russia's newest Oreshnik hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile with a non-nuclear warhead at a Ukrainian defense industry facility, the Yuzhmash plant in Dnepr (formerly Dnepropetrovsk). The Russian leader emphasized that the West's provocative policies could have dire consequences if they further escalate the conflict.