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With This Decision, Biden May Have Brought the US 'Dangerously Close' to World War III

Leah Barkoukis
Leah Barkoukis  |  June 05, 2024 8:00 AM

At Kyiv’s request, the Biden administration recently gave the green light to Ukraine to use America-made weapons for limited strikes inside Russia. The ostensible purpose was to help Ukraine defend the Kharkiv region, but it was a dramatic policy reversal, as the administration previously believed such offensive actions with U.S. weapons would have the potential to widen the war.

While the administration put limitations on the use of American weapons, it didn’t take long for Ukraine to jump on the new opportunity.

According to a Ukrainian member of Parliament, the Ukrainian military used U.S. weapons to strike a military facility in Russia.

Yehor Chernev, the deputy chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament’s committee on national security, defense and intelligence, said on Tuesday that Ukrainian forces had destroyed Russian missile launchers with a strike in the Belgorod region, about 20 miles into Russia. Ukraine’s forces used a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, he said.

It was the first time a Ukrainian official has acknowledged publicly that Ukraine had used American weapons to fire into Russia since President Biden lifted the ban on such strikes. For months, the ban had stood as a red line the Biden administration would not cross out of concern about increasing tensions with a nuclear-armed nation. […]

Mr. Chernev, in text messages, said Ukraine destroyed S-300 and S-400 missile systems, without specifying how many. Russia has used the systems, initially designed to shoot down aircraft, to bombard the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, which is just 45 miles from Belgorod. (The New York Times)

Russia has previously warned Western nations against allowing strikes within its borders and did so again on Monday. 

“We would like to warn U.S. officials against miscalculations that may have fatal consequences,” said Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, according to the Interfax news agency. “For some unclear reasons, they underestimate the seriousness of the response they may get.”

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