Pentagon: Ukraine may fire US missiles into Russia in self-defense

Ukraine’s military is allowed to use longer-range missiles provided by the U.S. to strike targets inside Russia across more than just the front lines near Kharkiv if it is acting in self-defense, the Pentagon said.

President Joe Biden initially loosened the restrictions on how Ukraine could use U.S.-provided munitions to give it another option to defend the eastern city of Kharkiv from a relentless barrage of Russian missiles. Since the beginning of Russia’s 2022 invasion, the U.S. had maintained a policy of not allowing Ukraine to use the weapons it provided to hit targets inside Russia for fear of further escalating the war.

Russia has been firing on Ukrainian targets from inside its border, treating its territory as a “safe zone,” said Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary.

“As we see those forces conducting those types of operations from across the border, we’ve explained Ukraine can and does have the right to fire back to defend themselves,” Ryder told reporters Thursday.

The Pentagon said the additional permissions are not a new policy.