President Joe Biden meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

By The Associated Press

Russia-Ukraine War

In a first, President Biden gives green light for Ukraine’s use of U.S.-supplied long-range missiles in Russia

Nov 17, 2024 | 1:22 PM

U.S. President Joe Biden has authorized the use of U.S.-supplied long-range missiles by Ukraine to strike even deeper inside Russia, the latest easing of limitations meant to prevent the conflict from further spiraling, according to one U.S. official and three people familiar with the matter.

The decision allowing Ukraine to use the Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMs, for attacks farther into Russia comes as thousands of North Korean troops have been sent into a region along Ukraine’s northern border to help Russia retake ground and as President-elect Donald Trump has said he would bring about a swift end to the war, expressing skepticism over continued support by the United States.

The weapons are likely to be used in response to the decision by North Korea to support Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, according to one of the people. The official and the people familiar with the matter were not authorized to discuss the decision publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and many of his Western supporters have been pressing Biden for months to allow Ukraine to strike military targets deeper inside Russia with Western-supplied missiles, saying the U.S. ban had made it impossible for Ukraine to try to stop Russian attacks on its cities and electrical grids.

Some supporters have argued that this and other U.S. constraints could cost Ukraine the war. The debate has become a source of disagreement among Ukraine’s NATO allies.

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Biden had remained opposed, determined to hold the line against any escalation that he felt could draw the U.S. and other NATO members into direct conflict with Russia.

But North Korea has deployed thousands of troops to Russia to help Moscow try to claw back land in the Kursk border region that Ukraine seized this year. The introduction of North Korean troops to the conflict comes as Moscow has seen a favorable shift in momentum. Trump has signaled that he could push Ukraine to agree to give up some land seized by Russia to find an end to the conflict.

As many as 12,000 North Korean troops have been sent to Russia, according to U.S., South Korean and Ukrainian assessments. U.S. and South Korean intelligence officials say North Korea also has provided Russia with significant amounts of munitions to replenish its dwindling weapons stockpiles.

Trump, who takes office in January, spoke for months as a candidate about wanting Russia’s war in Ukraine to be over, but he mostly ducked questions about whether he wanted U.S. ally Ukraine to win.

He also repeatedly slammed the Biden administration for giving Kyiv tens of billions of dollars in aid. His election victory has Ukraine’s international backers worrying that any rushed settlement would mostly benefit Putin.

America is Ukraine’s most valuable ally in the war, providing more than $56.2 billion in security assistance since Russian forces invaded in February 2022.

Worried about Russia’s response, however, the Biden administration repeatedly has delayed providing some specific advanced weapons sought by Ukraine, only agreeing under pressure from Ukraine and in consultation with allies, after long denying such a request.

That includes initially refusing Zelenskyy’s pleas for advanced tanks, Patriot air defense systems, F-16 fighter jets, among other systems.

The White House agreed in May to allow Ukraine to use ATACMS for limited strikes just across the border with Russia.

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The latest on the war in Ukraine:

Russia on Sunday launched a massive drone and missile attack on Ukraine, described by officials as the largest in recent months, targeting energy infrastructure and killing civilians.

The attack came as fears are mounting about Moscow’s intentions to devastate Ukraine’s power generation capacity ahead of the winter.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia had launched a total of 120 missiles and 90 drones in a large-scale attack across Ukraine. Various types of drones were deployed, he said, including Iranian-made Shaheds, as well as cruise, ballistic and aircraft-launched ballistic missiles.

Ukrainian defenses shot down 144 out of a total of 210 air targets, Ukraine’s air force reported later on Sunday.

“The enemy’s target was our energy infrastructure throughout Ukraine. Unfortunately, there is damage to objects from hits and falling debris. In Mykolaiv, as a result of a drone attack, two people were killed and six others were injured, including two children,” Zelenskyy said.

Two more people were killed in the Odesa region, where the attack damaged energy infrastructure and disrupted power and water supplies, said local Gov. Oleh Kiper. Both victims were employees of Ukraine’s state-owned power grid operator, Ukrenergo, the company said hours later.

The combined drone and missile attack was the most powerful in three months, according to the head of Kyiv’s City Military Administration, Serhii Popko.

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian rocket attack in Poltava region, Ukraine, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

One person was injured after the roof of a five-story residential building caught fire in Kyiv’s historic center, according to Popko.

A thermal power plant operated by private energy company DTEK was “seriously damaged,” the company said.

Russian strikes have hammered Ukraine’s power infrastructure since Moscow’s all-out invasion of its neighbor in February 2022, prompting repeated emergency power shutdowns and nationwide rolling blackouts. Ukrainian officials have routinely urged Western allies to bolster the country’s air defenses to counter assaults and allow for repairs.

Explosions were heard across Ukraine on Sunday, including in the capital, Kyiv, the key southern port of Odesa, as well as the country’s west and central regions, according to local reports.

The operational command of Poland’s armed forces wrote on X that Polish and allied aircraft, including fighter jets, have been mobilized in Polish airspace because of the “massive” Russian attack on neighboring Ukraine. The steps were aimed to provide safety in Poland’s border areas, it said.

Russia’s Defense Ministry on Sunday acknowledged carrying out a “mass” missile and drone attack on “critical energy infrastructure” in Ukraine, but claimed all targeted facilities were tied to Kyiv’s military industry.

Although Ukraine’s nuclear plants were not directly impacted, several electrical substations on which they depend suffered further damage, the U.N.’s nuclear energy watchdog said in a statement Sunday. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, only two of Ukraine’s nine operational reactors continue to generate power at full capacity.

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian rocket attack in Lviv, Ukraine, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

Ukrainian drones strike Russia

A local journalist died Sunday as Ukrainian drones struck Russia’s embattled Kursk region, its Gov. Aleksei Smirnov reported.

Moscow’s forces have for months strained to dislodge Ukrainian troops from the southern province after a bold incursion in August that constituted the largest attack on Russia since World War II and saw battle-hardened Ukrainian units swiftly take hundreds of square miles (kilometers) of territory.

In Russia’s Belgorod province, near Ukraine, a man died on the spot after a Ukrainian drone dropped explosives on his car, local Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov reported.

Another Ukrainian drone on Sunday targeted a drone factory in Izhevsk, deep inside Russia, according to anti-Kremlin Russian news channels on the Telegram messaging app. The regional leader, Aleksandr Brechalov, reported that a drone exploded near a factory in the city, blowing out windows but causing no serious damage. A man was briefly hospitalized with a head injury, Brechalov said.