For the first time, Ukrainian troops have officially acknowledged the use of Western missile systems in operations on Russian territory. Ukraine destroyed bridges in Russia's Kursk region with Western missile systems, writes The Times.
There was, of course, no reaction from Moscow. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the cross-border operation had shown Western allies that their fears about the consequences of attacks on Russian territory were unfounded and called for the lifting of all restrictions on the use of Western weapons.
The fact that Russian President Vladimir Putin did not follow through on his threats to retaliate against NATO shows that they are empty, Zelensky said, calling on the West to lift restrictions on the use of long-range weapons.
Ukrainian troops are using American HIMARS systems to destroy bridges and engineering equipment of Russian troops in the Kursk region, Kyiv reported.
The HIMARS systems, which have a range of about 80 km, were first provided to Ukraine in August 2022 on the condition that they would not be used on Russian territory. These restrictions have since been eased. But Ukraine still cannot use Western long-range missile systems against Russia.
Zelensky confirmed that Ukraine kept its allies in the dark before the cross-border offensive, knowing they would veto an operation that would “cross the strictest of all red lines that Russia has”.
After the full-scale invasion of the Russian army in Ukraine, it became clear that in practice the regime of Vladimir Putin has no red lines and all threats from Moscow of revenge are empty talk.
Ukrainian President Zelensky has long called on the West to provide Ukraine with longer-range weapons as his troops advance in Russia's Kursk region. The ability of the Ukrainian armed forces to use such weapons against Russia is the most important strategic issue of this war, Zelensky said. The courage and endurance of Ukrainian soldiers currently compensate for the hesitation of Western partners, the Ukrainian leader said.