Ukraine issued permission to attack Russian territory by destroying anti-aircraft system in Belgorod

The Ukrainian Army has made use for the first time of the permission received from the United States and other Western allies to use the weapons sent to it against certain military objectives located inside Russia, destroying with a US-made HIMARS an anti-aircraft system deployed in the Russian oblast of Belgorod.

“Ukrainian forces hit a Russian S-300/400 air defense battery in Belgorod Oblast, presumably with HIMARS, on June 1 or 2,” the Institute writes in its daily report on the conflict. for the Washington Study of War (ISW), which cites geolocated information from open sources to reach this conclusion.

The ISW adds that the partially destroyed air defense system was located north of the city of Belgorod, the regional capital of the homonymous oblast.

“The S-300/400 was located about 37 miles from the current front line in the north of the Kharkiv oblast (Ukrainian and bordering Belgorod) and more than 49 miles from the city of Kharkiv, which is within range. of the HIMARS, but exceeds that of other multiple launch rocket systems” that Ukraine has, notes the ISW.

The destruction with Western weapons of a Russian air defense system was confirmed last night on her Facebook account by the Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Reintegration of the Occupied Territories, Irina Vershchuk, who did not specify the type of weapons used in the attack.

In recent weeks, Ukraine has received permission from more than a dozen allied countries to hit certain Russian military objectives located within the Russian Federation with the weapons they send to kyiv. Until now it was not allowed to use its weapons to attack Russian territory for fear of possible retaliation from Moscow.

The United States has been one of the latest to join the list of countries lifting the ban, although it continues to limit the use of its weapons to certain military targets inside Russia that the Russians use to attack the Kharkiv region.

The cross-border offensive launched by Russia in the middle of last month against the Kharkov region, where it has managed to open a new front, triggered concern both in kyiv and in Western capitals.

Ukraine then began a campaign to be allowed to attack with the weapons it receives the troop concentrations, missile launchers, artillery systems, aircraft and other military targets that Russia uses to attack Kharkiv from its own territory.

Ukrainian pressure has had an effect and kyiv can now hit certain targets inside Russia, although it aspires for its partners to completely eliminate restrictions on the use of their weapons against legitimate targets located on Russian territory.

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