(CNN) — Ukrainian forces said Monday that they successfully hit a Russian S-300 missile system inside Russian territory thanks to the use of weapons supplied by the West.
“It burns. It’s a Russian S-300. On Russian territory. The first days after permission to use Western weapons on enemy territory,” Ukrainian Government Minister Iryna Vereshchuk posted on Facebook, along with an image purportedly showing the attack.
This comes just days after US President Joe Biden gave Ukraine permission to carry out limited strikes with US weapons on Russian territory around Kharkiv, after several European nations lifted restrictions on how they can be used. weapons.
It is unknown whether the weapons used in the attack described by Vereshchuk were supplied by the United States.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised Biden’s decision to allow some attacks on Russian territory as a “step forward” that will help his forces defend the besieged Kharkiv region, although some analysts question whether the new freedoms will significantly strengthen the Ukraine’s ability to repel the Russian invasion.
Military analysts tempered expectations, in part because the United States remains firm in not allowing Ukraine to use the most powerful ammunition it was given to fire on Russia: the long-range missiles known as ATACMS, which can hit targets up to 300 kilometers away. (almost 200 miles).
Instead, Ukraine can only use shorter-range missiles known as GMLRS, which have a range of around 70 kilometers (about 40 miles).
While the removal of this taboo appears to mark a new chapter in the war, Russia has already suffered Ukrainian attacks with Western weapons on territory it claims.
Ukraine frequently attacked occupied Crimea that Russia annexed in 2014 using “Storm Shadow” missiles provided by the United Kingdom.
Ukraine also launched attacks on Kharkiv and Kherson in late 2022 as it sought to liberate regions occupied by Russia in the first weeks of the war.
