Ukraine claims it used Western weapons to hit missile systems in Russia.

A Ukrainian government official claimed on Monday that Ukraine had successfully targeted a Russian S-300 missile system using Western sourced arms within Russian territory.

Minister Iryna Vereshchuk posted on Facebook a picture allegedly depicting the hit missile system with a caption “it burns beautifully”. He further claimed that the attack was accomplished successfully in the “first days” after gaining the ability to use western weapons in Russian territory.

The image comes into light just days after US president Joe Biden gave Ukraine limited permission to carry out strikes with weapons supplied by them in Russian territory around Kharkiv.

This decision came after multiple European countries removed restrictions on how their weapons could be used in the ongoing conflict.

It is not clear whether the attack was carried out using US made weapons.

Rising tension with the west

Ukraine had asked the White House many times over the past few months to allow it to deploy their weapons on Russian soil while Moscow launched an intensive aerial and ground assault on Kharkiv. 

This assault was backed by the confidence that its troops could retreat back to Russian soil at any given time, while at the same time having the peace of mind that their weapon depots would not be hit with long range western arms. 

The US has only recently agreed to give tentative and highly conditional permission. Ukraine will only be allowed to strike at targets around Kharkiv with the US still not allowing the use of its heaviest hitters which have been given to them to fire into Russia: the long range missiles ATACMS. These missiles have a range which can hit targets 300 kilometers away. 

Ukraine can, instead, use only short range missiles with a range of around 70 Kilometers known as GMLRS.

This is considered by many to be a bold new move on the part of the US. However, it is not something Russia has not had to face before. There have been strikes at Russian occupied territories by Ukrainian forces before.

It has launched ‘Storm Shadow’ missiles provided by the United Kingdom at occupied Crimea previously.

A new chapter in the war

The use of US arms seems to open up a new stage for the war. Up until now western intervention in the war has been minimal with Russia constantly threatening an all out war. Now, with the use of foreign arms in Russian soil, the veil of a localized war has been removed from the conflict.

The conflict has now scaled up into a proxy war in which NATO directly puts its arms directly against Russia in open warfare. 

The reaction from Moscow has been what most expected. The threat of nuclear war was once more rattled by Russian President Vladimir Putin and his other officials. Before permission was granted to Kyiv, Putin said this act could lead to “serious consequences”, with particular emphasis on small and densely populated countries.

However, it is clear what the US’s reaction to this statement was. While still withholding the use of long range missiles, the arms which have been allowed to be deployed have the potential to ramp up the momentum of Ukraine’s counter offensive.

A consulting fellow at UK-based Chatham House, Mathieu Boulegue, told CNN that while the change in policy would not be enough to flip the board, per se. It can be counted as a “booster shot” for Ukraine to defend itself better. 

Similarly, many military analysts praised the decision but also cautioned against high expectations. They reminded that the new policy would only allow for the defense to hit some Russian staging areas and weapon depots, leaving the wider offensive largely unaffected.