Pentagon Says US-Suppressed Use Of Weapons In Russian Territory Is Unbounded Near Kharkiv

Ukrainian soldiers operate M777's Howitzer artillery from the US on the battlefield. (Wikimedia Commons/Mil.gov.ua)

JAKARTA - Ukraine can use weapons supplied by the United States to attack Russian troops shooting at them anywhere across the Russian border, not only in Russian territory near Kharkiv Ukraine, the Defense Department (Pentagon) said Thursday.

Pentagon spokesman Major General Patrick Ryder told reporters, although there was no change in policy, Ukraine's use of weapons against Russian troops was not limited near Kharkiv on the Russian side.

"The ability to return fire when fired is the main focus of this policy. As we can see Russian troops shooting across the border, Ukraine's ability to fire back at the ground troops using ammunition provided by the US," Major General Ryder said.

"It is self-defense, so it makes sense for them to be able to do that," he added.

Major General Ryder's remarks echoed comments made by President Joe Biden's National Security Adviser earlier this week.

"It's not about geography. It's about common sense," Jake Sullivan told PBS.

"If Russia attacks or will attack from its territory into Ukraine, it makes sense to allow Ukraine to retaliate against the troops that attacked it from across the border."

Sullivan added that Ukraine could also use air defense systems to fire Russian aircraft flying in Russian airspace if they were to fire on Ukrainian airspace.

Last month, President Biden secretly allowed Kyiv to launch US-suppressed weapons against military targets within Russia. However, officials said at the time, President Biden's decision only applies to targets within Russia near the border with Ukraine's Kharkiv region.

The warlines in Ukraine have barely moved since the end of 2022, although tens of thousands of people have died on both sides in the relentless trench war, Europe's bloodiest fighting since the Second World War.

After Ukraine's initial success that led Kyiv to fend off attacks on the capital and retake the region in the first year of war, Ukraine's major counter-attack using Western donation tanks failed last year.

Russian troops still control a fifth of Ukraine's territory and come back forward, although slow. No peace talks have been held for more than two years.