GREEN LIGHT
Joe Biden gives Ukraine go-ahead to strike Russia with US weapons after calling on Kyiv to stop attacks on oil depots
The move comes just days after Putin threatened all-out war if Ukraine was to use weapons supplied by the West
US PRESIDENT Joe Biden has given Ukraine the go-ahead to hit back at Russia by using American weapons, top US officials say.
Ukraine has been constantly calling for additional support from the West with Biden finally responding with a partial change to US policy in a move that is all but certain to anger an already paranoid Vladimir Putin.
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The major shake up comes as Russia continues to attack Ukraine's second largest city of Kharkiv as they look to seize more Ukrainian territory.
Biden's secretive decision means US weapons can now be used by Ukraine for "counter-fire purposes" on their aggressors.
One of the three sources who announced the lifting of the ban said it will allow Ukraine to "hit back at Russian forces hitting them or preparing to hit them."
The second anonymous source said Ukraine has been granted the “flexibility” to defend itself.
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The move is set to help Ukraine bite back in Kharkiv as they try to push back Putin's soldiers.
Ukraine is thought to be looking to use US weapons, such as rockets, to blast Putin's missiles and drones out of the sky to spare Kharkiv.
I believe that time has come to reconsider some of these restrictions to enable the Ukrainians to really defend themselves
Jens Stoltenberg
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been increasingly vocal about his troops getting additional support from the West.
Putin has been accused of exploiting the delay in fresh overseas military aid to Ukraine to step up his attacks in the besieged city.
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Leaving Ukraine severely under prepared on the frontlines.
Despite the predicted new ruling, officials have maintained their stance that US weapons shouldn't be offensively used against Russia.
Meaning Ukraine isn't allowed to attack Russian civilian infrastructure with any US supplied weapons.
Aerial images capture the devastating horror inflicted on Ukraine's besieged border town of Vovchansk
They are also still banned from using long range weapons such as the army tactical missile system (ATACMS).
The officials say the decision was all down to President Biden.
Biden was thought to be against allowing Ukraine to deal deadly blows with US weapons due to past comments declaring any such actions could be viewed as provocative to the Kremlin.
The US government has tried to stay as neutral as possible so far as to not anger Putin and cause a further escalation of war.
Biden's Administration has also previously urged Ukraine to stop targeting Russian oil refineries warning strikes "risk driving up global oil prices and provoking retaliation”.
Ukraine has struck at least half of Russia’s 30 major refineries since January as the blasts cause great fires to break out and further humiliate Putin and his cronies.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said recently: "As the conditions have changed, as the battlefield has changed, as what Russia does has changed in terms of how its pursuing its aggression and escalation, we've adapted and adjusted too.
"I'm confident we'll continue to do that."
It comes as Putin threatened all-out war earlier this week if Ukraine was to use weapons supplied by the West.
He singled out Nato allies saying "constant escalation can lead to serious consequences".
Despite the tyrant's strong warning, his own country has bombarded Ukraine with weapons from Iran, North Korea and China so far.
A tyrant's threat
By The Sun's Defence Editor Jerome Starkey
Vladimir Putin has threatened all-out war if Ukraine uses Western weapons to hit Russia.
The tyrant singled out Britain — warning “countries with small territory and dense populations” should be careful.
Russia uses Iranian, North Korean and Chinese weapons to attack Ukraine.
But the President said Kyiv responding with rockets from allies risked a “global conflict”.
The UK has provided Ukraine with both lethal and non-lethal weapons.
Putin said: “Constant escalation can lead to serious consequences.
“Nato members, particularly in Europe, should beware of what they are playing with.”
When asked if Ukraine had been banned from using our weapons on Russia,
Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron said: “We don’t discuss any caveats on those.
“But Ukraine absolutely has the right to strike back at Russia.”
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly called for permission from allies use their weapons on Russian soil.
Kremlin troops assaulting Kharkiv appear to be immune from long range rocket strikes by US Himars launchers, with a range of 70 miles.
French President Emmanuel Macron spoke with Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg this week as they announced Western countries should be helping Ukraine defend itself.
Stoltenberg said: "We need to remember what it is. This is a war of aggression launched by choice by Moscow against Ukraine.
"I believe that time has come to reconsider some of these restrictions to enable the Ukrainians to really defend themselves."
The Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky agreed saying Ukraine is in desperate need of resources to counter Russia's relentless threats.
Norway say they believe that under international law Ukraine can and should attack Russia.
With foreign minister Espen Barth Eide even saying Norway would allow them to hit parts of Russia as part of their self defence.
The latest on Kharkiv
Ukraine's second-largest city Kharkiv is now seeing intense fighting as Putin's troops look to push forward into the northeast.
Kharkiv's mayor Ihor Terekhov has begged the West to step in and accused Vlad of terrorising its 1.3 million residents and plunging the city into darkness.
Russian attacks on Kharkiv - liberated after six months of Moscow's occupation in September 2022 - have been scaling up dramatically in previous weeks, killing dozens and leaving thousands without electricity.
Terekhov said that unless the West steps up and delivers crucial air defence systems - Kharkiv could suffer the same fate as the Syrian city of Aleppo, which heavy Russian bombing helped to decimate a decade ago.
Last Saturday, at least 18 people were killed after a Russian missile strike hit a retail park in the region sparking a horror inferno.
Dramatic footage shows massive plumes of black smoke rising into the Kharkiv sky after the Epicentre construction hypermarket became engulfed by flames.
Witnesses told our Sun reporter on the scene there were 200 people inside the 10,000sqft construction hypermarket.
Hero Brit volunteer Tony Ferret, 34, of Rye, Kent, was among those trying to help as the sky filled with black smoke.
He told The Sun: “They were trying to move vehicles out of the way so they could get the fire engines in.
“I pushed them out of the way with my vehicle.
“No one came out of that building. No one survived.
“It’s a disgusting day. Very emotional, to be honest."
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Meanwhile, Ukraine claimed Putin's Russia reached a grim milestone after losing more than 500,000 soldiers in their failing war.
Kyiv said Moscow's crumbling army has also lost some 22,000 tanks and armoured vehicles and nearly 700 aircraft since the invasion.
Putin's invasion in Kharkiv
By Paul Sims
UKRAINE'S second largest city of Kharkiv was blitzed from the air on May 10 as advancing enemy troops were pegged back.
They fired missiles, drones and glider bombs towards the border towns of Vovchansk, Lyptsi and beyond.
The relentless daily bombardment from the skies was stepped up as Ukraine's warriors repelled a series of ground offensives.
In a town 15 miles from the frontline, the residents of a quiet residential street were among the latest casualties of Russia's onslaught.
We found Vasyl Lutsenko, 67, at the base of a tree overlooking the charred remains of the home he and wife Olena have shared for the last 24 years.
Their property was hit by an Iranian-made Shahed-136 kamikaze drone shortly after 2am and burned to the ground.
It hit their Summer kitchen before the flames spread instantly to the main house and the neighbours next door.
The timber frames were still smouldering as we arrived yesterday amid piles of brickwork and masonry, twisted metal and their charred possessions.
The roof is no more and all that remains of the lives they created here is a wasteland of treasured memories.
Bearded Vasyl manages a smile as he mentions Boris Johnson and says he and Olena, 58, are lucky to be alive. He is already talking about rebuilding.
But it is too much for Olena who suddenly breaks down and shakes her head as a tear rolls down her cheek.
The Lutsenko home is the latest to be struck by the indiscriminate attacks that have increased daily over the last few weeks.
Extraordinary video footage taken by firefighters hours earlier showed their two-bedroom home engulfed by flames.
Vasyl and Olena escaped via their bedroom window after it was blown in by the power of the blast.
Olena was in her slippers but is now wearing a pair of trainers donated by a neighbour.
Vasyl says: "The world needs to understand that we cannot stop Vladimir Putin on our own.
"The whole world needs to end Putin. He won't stop. You will have the war in London and around your home if he is not stopped.
"Today, we have great news. We are alive and I suspect this dumbf*** Putin will be dead soon.
"He's a d***head."
Next door, Oleksii Yakhno, 71, is surveying the devastating damage to the home he and wife Olga, 68, have lived in for the last 51 years.
Oleksii was asleep in a back bedroom and his wife was on a sofa bed in the kitchen when the drone struck.
Olga cried out to her husband to save the family car, a purple 13 series Lada, as the ceilings caved in.
He did as he was told and ran out in his pants, diving into the front seat as the flames tore through the garage.
Tearful Oleksii tells me: "My wife saw the neighbour's summer kitchen hit by the drone.
"It caught fire immediately and my wife told me to go and save our car.
"I went off - even in my underwear - ran into the garage and started the engine.
"Over the last few years I've been saving money so that my daughter's can pay for my funeral when I'm dead, but it's all gone."
His eyes fill with tears as he says: "I don't have any feelings - just that I have lost the roof over my head.
"The home and everything we owned is gone - I just don't know what to do.
"Maybe I would be better off dead. It's very, very bad. What can I do now? I have lived my entire life here."
Local Mayor Ihor Terekhov told The Sun: "People are left with nothing right now. We will definitely help them and do our best to rebuild their lives.
"The Russian aggressor is carrying out crimes every day against the Ukrainian nation."
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