A Ukrainian commander said that the US decision to allow Ukraine to use weapon aid to attack Russian territory caused the war situation to change rapidly in a matter of hours.
The Associated Press quoted a Ukrainian battlefield artillery commander as saying that the US decision at the end of May to allow Kiev to use weapon aid to attack Russia had a great impact on the war.
According to this commander, after the US decision, Ukrainian brigades quickly brought the HIMARS systems near the border with Russia within a few hours.
At that time, the Ukrainian army faced great pressure as Kiev feared Russia would carry out another attack on the Kharkov region to stretch Ukraine’s resources away from the strategic area in Donetsk.
According to Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Ivan Havryliuk, at that time, more than 90,000 troops deployed deep inside Russian territory were preparing for a new attack.
The deployment of the HIMARS system allows Ukrainian forces to immediately target and disrupt Russian troop movements and firing positions along the border.
“HIMARS was almost silent all day,” the artillery commander in the Kharkiv region, nicknamed Hefastus, said, recalling the first hours after Ukraine was granted permission to use the multiple launch fire system produced by American made.
“From the first days, Ukrainian forces stopped all Russian forces along the border waiting for orders to enter Ukraine. Previously, we could not target them. It was quite complicated. All the Ammunition depots and other targets are located 20km away from our attack range,” he said.
Unnamed Ukrainian officials said that Washington had previously restricted Kiev from using weapons donated by the country to attack Russian territory. That created a “safe zone” from which Russia could attack Ukraine.
With the HIMARS system on the border, Ukrainian forces quickly stabilized their positions in the Kharkiv region, blocking potential Russian advances.
However, the Ukrainian government is still not satisfied because the US has only allowed Kiev to attack the Russian border area, but cannot attack further due to fears of escalating tensions.
This restriction prevented Ukraine from targeting strategic Russian air bases, the facilities from which Moscow deployed bombers to attack Kiev targets.
In addition to the United States, a number of other NATO countries have also allowed Ukraine to use weapon aid to attack Russian territory.
Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin hinted that Western countries’ encouragement of Ukraine to attack directly on Russian territory could force Moscow to respond.
“So officials from NATO countries, especially those in Europe, especially in small countries in Europe, should be fully aware of what is at stake,” Putin told reporters. reporters on May 28.
“They should remember that their countries are small and populous, this is a factor to take into account before they start talking about attacking deep into Russian territory,” Mr. Putin warned.
