The move marks a major shift in U.S. policy after the Biden administration’s long-standing refusal to agree to Ukraine’s request for authorization to use the missiles to hit targets outside its own borders.
Russia, for its part, has been using Iranian killer drones and North Korean missiles against Ukraine during President Vladimir Putin’s lengthy full-scale invasion, according to reports by research groups and intelligence services.
Biden’s approval came in response to Russia’s use of North Korean troops in the war, The New York Times reported.
However, Biden’s decision to allow strikes into Russia “will not change” the balance of power on the battlefield, a high-level French military official told reporters Monday.
It “can slow things down, but not stop them,” he added. That’s because, overall, the Ukraine war is also an “industrial war” in which whoever produces the most weapons in the long run is most likely to win. “Even without the North Koreans, Russia has more people on the front line,” the top official also said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reacted Sunday to the missile reports, saying: “Today, there’s a lot of talk in the media about us receiving permission for respective actions.
