A senior Ukrainian official hinted Monday that, despite Kremlin threats, Kyiv may have already begun using Western weapons to hit targets inside Russia.

Ukraine finally has a green light to strike inside Russia using U.S. weapons — and it may have begun doing so.

A senior Ukrainian official hinted Monday that Kyiv had hit a missile system inside Russia using Western weapons, just days after many of Ukraine’s allies, including the United States, approved their limited use.

That followed months of pressure to ignore threats from the Kremlin and lift the restrictions, which Ukraine said had hampered its defensive effort. Even as President Vladimir Putin’s officials repeated their dire warnings, Ukraine signaled that it may have fired its first shots in this new reality, leaving observers to question what it could mean for the wider war.

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    A senior Ukrainian official hinted Monday that Kyiv had hit a missile system inside Russia using Western weapons, just days after many of Ukraine’s allies, including the United States, approved their limited use.

    A now-deleted post Monday on the Telegram messaging app from Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk showed a photo of what appears to be a burning military truck.

    The Institute for the Study of War also suggested in its daily report Monday that “Ukrainian forces struck a Russian S-300/400 air defense battery in Belgorod Oblast," most likely with a high mobility artillery rocket system (HIMARS) on Saturday or Sunday.

    There was no immediate reaction from the Kremlin to Vereshchuk’s claim, but Putin warned last week that European NATO states were playing with fire and risking “global conflict” by allowing Ukraine to strike inside Russia.

    “Ukraine is bound to show they can now do this and that S-300 is a legitimate military target,” Michael Clarke, visiting professor of war studies at King’s College London, told NBC News.

    National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said Monday the administration would hold “talks” with Kyiv about further loosening the restrictions, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested the shift in U.S. policy was still not enough.


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