USA vaguely formulated criteria for AFU strikes on russian territory - ISW

The White House has not yet formulated clear criteria and policies regarding strikes by the Defense Forces of Ukraine on military facilities in russia using American weapons.

This was announced in a report by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

The Institute recalls the statements of the Biden administration's security communications adviser, John Kirby. At a briefing on June 5, Kirby noted that the US "has never restricted Ukraine from shooting down enemy aircraft, even if they are outside Ukrainian airspace."

Kirby suggested that the Defense Forces could shoot down russian planes in russian airspace if they "pose an immediate threat" to Ukraine, and emphasized that the Ukrainian military had already done so since the beginning of the war.

However, as noted in the report, it remains unclear what the official US policy is for identifying russian aircraft that pose an "imminent threat" to Ukraine. Kirby's statements did not clarify the Biden administration's position on the issue.

The ISW also notes that Ukraine's ability to defend itself against russian guided aerial bombs attacks depends significantly on the ability to pursue russian aircraft in russian airspace with the help of American air defense systems. This is important to prevent strikes on Ukrainian cities, critical infrastructure and advanced positions.

"The current lack of clarity in the American restrictions on the use of weapons provided to Ukraine by the United States to strike russian military facilities on the territory of russia, as a rule, loses the opportunity to force the aggressor to withdraw from striking such strikes on Ukrainian territory from its own airspace. Russian troops continued to carry out intensive glider bombardment of Ukraine with aerial bombs on June 5, probably mostly from russian airspace," the report says.

At the same time, Kirby also noted that the United States cannot confirm whether the Defense Forces used already provided American weapons to strike at the russian federation. The Institute recalled that the US partially relaxed its restrictions on May 30, but on June 5, the Associated Press reported, citing an unnamed US senator and a Western official, that Ukraine had used US-supplied weapons to strike russia "in recent days."

"ISW observed georeferenced footage from June 1 or 2 showing a possible strike by a Ukrainian Himalai air defense system on a russian S-300/400 air defense system in the Belgorod Oblast," the report said.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the mass media reported that the US President Joe Biden's administration privately granted Ukraine permission to launch strikes on russian territory using weapons transferred by the United States, but with a restriction - exclusively in the Kharkiv Region.

Earlier, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made it clear that the administration of President Joe Biden may consider allowing Ukraine to use American weapons for strikes on russian territory.

Meanwhile, the USA allowed Ukraine to hit the russian federation with American weapons, but with one condition.

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