After bombs dropped by Russian warplanes devastated residential areas in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv this weekend, killing at least four people and injuring dozens more, President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday called on allies to further ease restrictions on the use of restrictions on Western weapons so that their forces can use them to attack Russian air bases.
The Biden administration’s recent decision to allow Ukraine to use certain weapons against forces in Russia has had an immediate effect, helping Ukraine thwart Moscow’s offensive north of Kharkiv and slowing its attack on the city, which is located 30km from Ukraine. The second major city was only about 25 miles from the city’s bombing.
But the lifting of U.S. restrictions does not apply to the use of Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS), some of which have a range of about 190 miles. These long-range weapons are needed to strike air bases deep inside Russia used by bombers. Kiev relies largely on its own growing fleet of domestically produced drones to pursue these bases.
Ukraine’s air defenses are gradually being beefed up after months of delays in U.S. military aid, but Russia is still carrying out daily bombings and Zelensky is desperate to find ways to stop attacks before they begin.
“We are determined enough to eliminate terrorists from their soil – that’s fair – and we need our partners to be equally determined,” he said in a social media post on Sunday.
“On this day, our fighters shot down two Russian-caliber missiles,” he wrote. “Yesterday – 12 Russian missiles and 13 attack drones. Wait – every night.
In the post, his office released a video showing some of the carnage Russia has caused over the past few weeks. The 90-second video shows the fires and flames caused by the strikes in nearly every region of Ukraine reported by local officials and emergency workers.
Recent attacks this weekend include one that destroyed about half the buildings of the Ivano-Frankivsk State Petroleum and Gas Technical University in western Ukraine, and an attack on Kiev that ended before dawn on Sunday, with missile fragments raining from the sky, according to city government Officials and emergency services said the plane crashed into houses and apartment buildings, injuring several people.
Emergency crews raced to find survivors after another aerial bombardment targeted Kharkov on Sunday night. Zelensky said on social media that at least one person was killed in the attack.
Zelensky said more could be done to stop the bombing, noting that the revised rules of engagement had a direct impact on Kharkiv and its surrounding areas.
Ukrainian military spokesman Nazar Voloshin said on Sunday that for the first time since Moscow launched a cross-border offensive north of the city in early May, there were no reports of major Russian offensive operations in the area.
Voloshin said Russian forces were “withdrawing some troops to resupply” while continuing to bomb the area and fortify new defense lines.
The Institute for War Studies, a Washington-based research group, noted a decline in Russian infantry attacks north of Kharkov but said Moscow appeared to be stepping up attacks in other parts of eastern Ukraine. Military experts said they believed the Russian attack near Kharkiv was at least partly designed to create gaps elsewhere by weakening Ukrainian forces. Russia continues to make huge gains in other areas of the front.
But as Western weapons flow into Ukraine and the Biden administration eases restrictions on the use of U.S. weapons, artillery units outside Kharkiv are allowed to use a vehicle-mounted multiple rocket launcher called HIMARS, which can launch up to 62 satellite-guided missiles. rocket missile. Commanders in the area noted that the Russian offensive slowed almost immediately as the infantry units were stranded and had little support.
Ukraine has also targeted the S300 and S400 systems used by Russia to launch missiles from the border towards Kharkiv. Ukrainian officials said there had been no reports of such missiles hitting the city since the batteries were removed.
“The significant reduction in Russian missile-terrorist activities against Kharkiv and the region proves that it is absolutely possible to protect our cities and communities from Russian bombs,” said Oleh Sinekhupov, head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration. attack.
Zelensky said he was “grateful to the United States for taking strong decisions that helped us stabilize the situation in the Kharkov border area,” adding that “such decisions need to continue.”
Ukrainian officials have expressed a particular desire to prevent powerful guided bombs deployed by the Kremlin.
Last week, a Telegram channel called “Fighter Bomber” with close ties to the Russian military shared a video that it claimed showed the use of a giant bomb called the FAB-3000 north of Kharkov. Weighing more than 6,600 pounds, the weapon is one of the most powerful bombs in Russian service and is at least three times larger than some U.S.-made bombs used by Israel in Gaza.
Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Ilya Yevlash said he could not comment on claims FAB-3000 had been used until the wreckage was analyzed.
Russia has designed winged guidance systems for its older bombs, which weigh between 500 pounds and more than 3,000 pounds, turning them into weapons that can be deployed by warplanes beyond the range of Ukraine’s air defenses.
The bombs paved the way for Russian forces to seize the city of Avdievka at the beginning of the year and have played an integral role in Russia’s progress since then.
Zelensky said Russia launched more than 3,200 guided bombs in May. On Saturday, he said Moscow had laid off more than 2,400 employees this month.
Pentagon officials declined to reveal specific details about the new guidance on deploying U.S. weapons, but shortly after President Biden approved their use across the border, National Security Council senior director for Europe Michael Carpenter told Ukraine’s state news agency that the decision “Not applicable to ATACMS or remote strikes”.
Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder reiterated that this week.
“What this policy is really focused on is the ability to fight back when attacked,” he said.
When it comes to “long-range munitions like ATACMS,” he noted, “There has been no change in policy.”
Natalia Novosolova Contributed research.
