WP: Kyiv asks Washington's permission to strike Russia with ATACMS amid Kursk Oblast events
ATACMS (Photo by Arizona Army National Guard)

Ukrainian officials have again asked the United States for permission to use ATACMS missiles to strike targets inside Russia, according to The Washington Post, citing an unnamed advisor to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The report states that the Kursk offensive operation has created new pressure on Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. Ukrainian officials have appealed to Washington to allow them to use American long-range ATACMS missiles to hit Russian airfields.

If approved by Washington, this would allow Ukrainian forces to hold some territories in the Kursk Oblast for some time, the journalists said.

"This will give them the leverage they need for negotiations with Russia — this is what it’s all about," Zelenskyy's advisor told WP.

On August 6, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that Ukrainian forces allegedly breached the border with the Kursk Oblast. Videos and photos purportedly showing battles on Russian territory are circulating on social media.

Russian propagandists claim that Ukrainian forces allegedly control several settlements in the Kursk Oblast. No Ukrainian security and defense agency has commented on Ukraine's involvement in these

REFERENCE
ATACMS are American ground-based ballistic missiles. They can carry either unitary warheads or cluster munitions. They are launched from HIMARS or high-mobility artillery rocket systems. In October 2023, it became known that Ukraine received the oldest and most basic version of ATACMS with a cluster warhead from the United States, with a maximum range of 165 km. Other modifications with a unitary warhead have a range of up to 300 km, and an experimental PRISM missile variant can reach up to 500 km.

Read also: Ex-General Staff spokesman on events in Kursk Oblast: It looks like Syrskyi's plan

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