US President Joe Biden has authorized Ukraine’s military to use US-provided long-range missiles against targets inside Russia, according to a report from The New York Times, citing unnamed US officials.
The decision marks a significant escalation in the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia, with Russian President Vladimir Putin having previously warned that such actions would be viewed as an “act of war.”
Neither the White House nor the Kremlin comment on the report.
Biden’s approval came just hours after Russia launched one of its largest missile and drone assaults in months, targeting Ukraine’s power and energy infrastructure. Russia fired more than 200 missiles in the attack.
Putin has long claimed that allowing Ukraine to use US-supplied missiles on Russian soil would equate to direct involvement by the US and NATO in the conflict.
“A decision to allow Ukraine to strike Russia with the missiles would mean nothing less than the direct participation of NATO countries, the United States, and European countries, in the war in Ukraine,” Putin said last September.