- A Ukrainian military commander said Ukraine had destroyed a waiting Russian military column in Himars.
- He said that as soon as Ukraine received permission to use its allies' weapons across the border, they were targeted.
- Experts say Ukraine's ability to use Western-supplied weapons on Russian territory is helping it fight back.
Ukrainian military commanders said Ukraine was able to destroy the Russian military formations after receiving permission from its allies to use weapons to attack Russian military targets across the border.
An artillery commander with the call sign “Hephaestus” told The Associated Press that Ukrainian Himal artillery began firing in areas north of Kharkiv as soon as they received permission.
“HIMARS wasn't silent all day,” he said, referring to the U.S.-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket System.
Ukraine last month received permission from its allies to attack Russian military targets with weapons they supplied, reversing long-standing restrictions.
“From the first days, the Ukrainian armed forces managed to destroy entire columns of troops along the border waiting for orders to enter Ukraine,” Hephaestus said, according to the Associated Press.
He said Ukraine would not have been able to achieve this without the new authorization because conventional munitions could not reach that far.
Hefastus added that Ukraine was now able to destroy Russian command posts.
His claims have not been independently verified.
Still, since the restrictions were lifted, Ukraine appears to be using HIMARS to attack Russian targets.
Russia also has troops stationed near the Ukrainian border and is prepared to be deployed into combat.
Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Ivan Havlylyuk told The Associated Press that at least 90,000 Russian troops deep inside Russian territory were preparing for a new attack when the restrictions were lifted.
It is not clear whether any of these were the troops allegedly affected in the HIMARS attack.
Analysts have said Ukraine has been forced to fight with one hand behind its back because Russia is using its territory to resupply its military and launch attacks with drones, missiles and aircraft.
That changed in May, when many of Ukraine's allies announced that Ukraine could use weapons supplied to them to attack military targets on Russian territory.
The United States, which announced the policy change on May 30, did not go as far as some other countries but still said Ukraine could use U.S.-supplied weapons to attack areas beyond the Kharkiv border.
This enabled Ukraine to more strongly counter a new Russian offensive that began in Kharkov on May 10.
Experts say this new reality has major implications, especially given that the Russian border is so close to the fighting: Russia can resupply troops, ammunition and equipment, while Ukraine has little ability to intervene.
George Barros, a Russian military expert at the US-based Institute for the Study of War, told BI that the first few days had seen “positive changes.”
“They actually helped blunt the Russian attack at its core,” he said, allowing Ukraine to launch “smaller tactical counterattacks.”
Two Ukrainian officials told The Washington Post that Russian attacks have tapered off in some areas, but added that the air base from which the Russians launched their attacks is outside the range of any strikes authorized by the U.S. by Ukrainian forces.
According to the Associated Press, Ukraine's new offensive capabilities have “significantly blunted Russia's momentum” and local reports say that, although Ukrainian forces remain under significant pressure, they have been able to advance and retake some territory.
