‘WAY TOO LATE’
The US believes more than 10,000 North Korean soldiers have been sent to eastern Russia and that most of them have moved to the Kursk region and have begun to engage in combat operations.
Russia is advancing at its fastest rate since 2022 despite taking heavy losses, and Ukraine said it had clashed with some of those North Korean troops deployed to Kursk.
Stretched by personnel shortages, Ukrainian forces have lost some of the ground they captured in an August incursion into Kursk that Zelenskiy said could serve as a bargaining chip.
“Removing targeting restrictions will allow the Ukrainians to stop fighting with one hand tied behind their back,” Alex Plitsas, senior non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council, said.
“However, like everything else, I believe history will say the decision came way too late. Just like the ATACMS, HIMARS, Bradley Fighting Vehicles, Abrams Tanks and F-16. They were all needed much sooner,” he added.
Despite Zelenskiy’s pleas, the White House had been reluctant to allow US-supplied weapons to be used to strike targets deep inside Russia for fear this could escalate the conflict.
Kyiv’s other allies have been supplying weapons but with restrictions on how and when they can be used inside Russia, out of concern such strikes could prompt retaliation that draws NATO countries into the war or provokes a nuclear conflict.
Poland’s foreign minister, Radoslaw Sikorski, also called the move a response to North Korea’s involvement.
“President Biden responded to the entry of North Korean troops into the war and the massive Russian missile strike in a language that V. Putin understands – by removing restrictions on Ukraine’s use of Western missiles,” Sikorski said on X.
