After months of refusal, US President Joe Biden ended up authorizing Ukraine, on Sunday, November 17, to carry out deep attacks in Russia with ballistic missiles supplied by the United States, as kyiv had long demanded. An important strategic shift a few weeks before Donald Trump returns to the White House on January 20, 2025.
The US decision, adopted in reaction to the involvement of North Korean soldiers in the conflict, is considered too late and too restrictive. More political than military, it could help slow the Russian advance, without changing the balance of power on the ground.
On Monday, November 18, Moscow denounced a decision “reckless, dangerous”, and accused the Biden administration of “to add fuel to the fire.” State Duma Speaker Viacheslav Volodin threatened to use new weapons systems against Ukraine if it attacked its territory with long-range US missiles. Accurate and highly powerful Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) can hit a target at a distance of up to 300 kilometers.
Mixture of joy and bitterness.
The US decision comes at a time when Russia is exploiting its frontline advantage, seizing territories in the east of the country at a speed not seen in two years. The Kremlin is also increasing pressure on the population behind it, carrying out a series of deadly attacks.
A thousand days after the start of the Russian invasion, Washington’s announcement was received in Ukraine with a mixture of joy and bitterness. “Better late than never, Ukrainian military expert Ievhen Dyky reacted in an interview with Ukrainian media SNOWFALL. But it’s been a thousand days longer than it should have been. » For this Army veteran, if the decision to lift restrictions had been made sooner, “It would have had a completely different effect.”
Before Washington announced its decision, Russia had time to take precautions and moved part of its facilities and equipment inside its territory to put them out of the range of American missiles. However, it remains “warehouses and command posts [à portée de frappes]shadow Ievhen Dyky. We cannot delete all of them or hide all of them. »
The Pentagon warned as early as September that ATACMS missiles would not be able to respond to the main threat facing Ukraine, namely suspended bombs fired by the Russians more than 300 kilometers away, beyond the range of ATACMS.
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