The White House for the first time confirmed the lifting of restrictions on the Ukrainian Armed Forces strikes deep into Russia using ATACMS missiles.
Talks have been going on for weeks that the United States would allow Ukraine to strike deep into Russian territory with ATACMS missiles. And now, the White House National Security Council Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby, in a briefing on Monday, November 25, officially confirmed for the first time that Ukraine received permission to strike ATACMS long-range missiles on the territory of Russia.
In the Kursk area
According to Kirby, the US “actually changed the guidance” on the use of ATACMS missiles, and now the Ukrainians “can use them to hit certain types of targets.”
“Now they can use ATACMS for self-defense in case of urgent need. And now, it’s clearly happening in the Kursk area, in the Kursk region,” Kirby said.
He noted that he would reserve the right for the Ukrainian side to say “how they use ATACMS, how they define the goals, what they use them for and how much they do it.”
Military airfield
Several Russian so-called military bloggers reported an airstrike on the Khalino airbase near Kursk. According to them, the strike was carried out by eight ATACMS missiles, at least two of which exploded at the air base.
The governor of the Kursk region, Alexey Smirnov, announced on his Telegram channel on Monday night that seven missiles and seven drones were shot down in the region. The governor did not specify where they were flying to.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said on Monday morning that during the night strikes were carried out on targets in the Kursk, Bryansk and Kaluga regions, but named only one specific target – an oil depot in the region of Calm down. He, as the General Staff said, was hit, and the consequences of the remaining attacks are being clarified.
Khalino airfield near the eastern outskirts of Kursk served as a military base and civilian airfield for Kursk before the war began.
According to OSINT analysts, ATACMS missiles hit not only the airfield, but also the positions of the S-400 air defense system, which was trying to block the attack.
Previous hits
According to media reports, last Tuesday Ukraine attacked the Bryansk region with six American-made ATACMS missiles, and the next day used the British Storm Shadow and American HIMARS systems to hit targets in Kursk region.
At Kursk, a Russian command post was attacked, resulting in casualties.
Vladimir Putin said in his televised address that in response to permission from the United States and its NATO allies to use their long-range weapons to strike Russian territory, Moscow struck the Dnepr plant with the Oreshnik non-nuclear hypersonic ballistic missile.
Source: korrespondent
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