WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden has authorized Ukraine to use U.S. weapons to strike targets inside Russia, a major shift in American policy that comes with the risk of further escalation in the war that has raged for more than two years.
The Biden administration had held targets inside Russia off limits to U.S.-supplied weapons. The fear had been that Russian President Vladimir Putin would then seek to widen the war to Ukraine’s neighbors. Or, an even more grim possibility: Russia unleashing tactical nuclear weapons in combat.
But Russian battlefield gains in recent weeks near Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, seem to have changed the adminstration’s approach.
The new policy will allow Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied weapons to return fire against Russian forces attacking them near Kharkiv region, said the official who was not authorized to speak publicly. The policy of restricting the use of long-range ATACMS missiles inside Russia remains in effect, the official said.
