Ukraine asking USA to allow strikes on targets on russian territory - media

A group of Ukrainian MPs arrived in Washington with the aim of trying to get consent from the US authorities to use American weapons to launch strikes on the territory of russia, Politico reports.

It is noted that Kyiv's attempt to obtain permission to use American weapons against russian territory is taking place against the background of russian attempts to advance in the north of the Kharkiv Region.

It is noted that the Ukrainian military has been watching the russians concentrate near the Ukrainian border for weeks, without being able to use the weapons provided by the United States to carry out a pre-emptive strike.

"The main problem now is the policy of the White House to limit our ability to strike military targets inside russia," said Davyd Arakhamia, head of the Servant of the People faction.

Oleksandra Ustinova, head of the Verkhovna Rada's special commission on armaments, added that Ukraine saw a russian grouping several kilometers from the border and could not do anything about it due to the ban on the use of Western weapons. According to her, the occupiers have moved a large amount of artillery in this axis and now "will try to turn Kharkiv into a second Mariupol or Aleppo."

"We keep coming back to the same problem - russia telling us what to do. You give us a stick, but you don't let us use it," she said.

At the same time, the publication notes that the interviewed American officials noted that the position of President Joe Biden on this issue has not changed. According to one of them, the aid is intended for defense, not for offensive operations on the territory of russia.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, Ukrainian troops will be able to use long-range missile systems to more effectively target russian forces in the temporarily occupied Crimea.

Earlier, the head of the Pentagon criticized Ukraine's strikes on russian refineries.