Ukraine managed to destroy columns of Russian soldiers after obtaining permission from its allies to use their weapons to strike military targets across the Russian border, a Ukrainian commander said.
The artillery commander, with the call sign Hefastus, told The Associated Press that Ukraine’s HIMARS began firing in the northern Kharkiv region as soon as Ukraine received permission.
“The HIMARS have not been silent all day,” he said, referring to the U.S.-made high-mobility artillery rocket system.
Ukraine last month won permission from its allies to strike military targets in Russia with weapons they had supplied, overturning a long-standing restriction.
“From the first days, Ukrainian forces managed to destroy entire columns of troops along the border, waiting for the order to enter Ukraine,” Hefastus said, according to the AP.
He said Ukraine could not have achieved this without its new authorizations, because ordinary munitions cannot reach such a distance.
Hefastus added that Ukraine was now in a position to destroy Russian command centers.
His claims have not been independently verified.
Despite this, Ukraine appears to have used HIMARS to strike targets in Russia since restrictions were lifted.
Russia has also stationed troops near the border with Ukraine, ready to be called into combat.
Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Ivan Havryliuk told the AP that at least 90,000 Russian troops on Russian territory were preparing for a new assault when restrictions were lifted.
It is unclear whether any of them were from the troops believed to have been hit by the HIMARS attacks.
In the past, analysts described Ukraine as being forced to fight with one hand behind its back, with Russia using its own territory to resupply its forces and launch drone, missile and aircraft attacks.
The situation changed in May, when many of Ukraine’s allies said they could now use the weapons they had supplied to attack military targets on Russian soil.
The United States, which announced its policy change on May 30, did not go as far as some but nevertheless said that Ukraine could use the weapons it supplied to strike regions located in across the border from Kharkiv.
This allowed Ukraine to respond more forcefully against a new Russian offensive launched in Kharkiv on May 10.
Experts say this new reality has had a big impact in this country, especially since the Russian border is so close to the fighting. Russia was able to resupply its forces with troops, ammunition and equipment and there was little Ukraine could do to intervene.
George Barros, a Russian military expert at the American Institute for the Study of War, told BI that from the first days there was a “positive difference.”
“They actually helped blunt the Russian offensive at the core,” he said, with Ukraine able to launch “small, tactical counterattacks.”
Some Russian attacks have been scaled back, two Ukrainian officials told the Washington Post, but they added that the air bases from which they launch attacks are outside the range of what U.S. authorization allows Ukraine to strike.
According to the AP, Ukraine’s new strike capabilities have “significantly slowed Russia’s momentum,” with local reports saying they also allowed Ukrainian troops to advance and reclaim some territory, even if they are still under great pressure.
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