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| Pentagon Reportedly Allows Ukraine To Strike Russia With Long-Range Missiles |
Washington - The Pentagon is reportedly now more inclined to support Ukraine 's plans to launch long - range attacks on targets deep inside Russia . That's the report from The Times quoted by Insider. According to The Times, while the United States (US) has publicly taken a stance against encouraging Ukraine to attack beyond its borders, the country's government has reportedly revised its assessment of the war.
It is now more possible to supply Kiev with long-range weapons for striking deep into Russia. An anonymous US defense source told The Times that fears of escalation had changed from the start. “It is different now. This is because the calculus of war has changed as a result of the suffering and brutality that the Ukrainian people have experienced by Russia,” wrote The Times as quoted from Insider, Sunday (11/12/2022).
The Times reported in its report that fears that Russia would launch a tactical nuclear strike or attack a NATO member bordering Russia had died down among US military planners.
Earlier the BBC reported Washington did not want to be seen as encouraging Ukraine to attack in Russia, with Foreign Secretary Anthony Blinken saying: "We are not encouraging or enabling Ukraine to strike inside Russia." However, a separate US military source told The Times: "We did not say to Kiev, 'Don't attack Russia (inside Russia or Crimea).'
"We can't tell them what to do. It's up to them how they use their weapons. But when they use the weapons we give them, the only thing we emphasize is that the Ukrainian military complies with international laws of war and to the Geneva conventions."
On Sunday and Monday, Ukraine is believed to have fired its own drone deep into Russian territory. One of the targets was the Engels-2 air base in Saratov Oblast in southern Russia, home to the Tu-95 and Tu-160 long-range bombers, which is nearly 400 miles from the Ukrainian border.
Another explosion that day occurred at the Dyagilevo air base, just southeast of Moscow. Both incidents killed and injured many people and damaged several aircraft. The Times also suggested the US could supply Ukraine with high-tech long-range weapons, including missile launchers and heavily armed drones.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that the US would "cross the line" if it supplied Ukraine with long-range missiles. This warning was emphasized by a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova. "If Washington decides to supply long-range missiles to Kiev, then it will cross a red line and become a direct party to the conflict," he stressed.