US Senate confirms authorization to use ATACMS for targets in Russia
20 November 09:11
The leadership of the Republican Party in the US Senate has officially confirmed the decision of President Joe Biden’s administration to lift restrictions on Ukraine’s use of long-range ATACMS missiles to strike targets in Russia. This was announced by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, reports Komersant ukrainskyi
with reference to Ukrinform.
“Finally, belatedly, they did yesterday what I and the speaker suggested they do six months ago,”
– McConnell said, emphasizing his longstanding support for this step.
He clarified that it is about allowing the Ukrainian military to use ATACMS “in a way that they see fit to help them win the war.”
The senator harshly criticized the US administration, accusing it of being too slow.
“They are acting too slowly if they really want to help Ukraine win,”
– he emphasized.
At the same time, McConnell noted that despite his disagreement with the pace of decision-making, he was “relieved” when it became known that the ban on the use of ATACMS had been “lifted from the shoulders” of Ukrainians.
“But this should have been done months ago,”
– the senator summarized.
Earlier, the US media, citing unnamed officials, reported that Ukraine had already used ATACMS to strike targets in Russia, although there was no official confirmation of this from the US authorities at the time.
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Western weapons and authorizations for their use
As you know, the United States has authorized the use of weapons provided by them only for strikes on the border territories of Russia. This permission was granted by US President Joe Biden only at the end of May 2024, and before that, strikes on Russian territory with US weapons were generally prohibited.
However, closer to the end of June, the US side made unofficial statements that the restrictions “do not apply to geography or a certain radius.” This was interpreted to mean that Ukraine could allegedly strike at those facilities and territories from which attacks on Ukraine are directly directed, even if they are deeper than the border areas. But it has recently emerged that this may also mean that Ukraine is not allowed to strike certain targets even in the occupied territories.
Experts say that border strikes will not change the situation at the front, so Zelenskyy asked his partners for permission to use their weapons to strike Russian territory. Some Western countries have given such permission without waiting for the US to decide.
The information that US President Joe Biden for the first time allowed the Ukrainian military to use long-range ATACMS missiles to strike Russian territory appeared in the New York Times on November 18.
