Ukraine Strikes Into Russia With Western Weapons, Official Says

Just days after the Biden administration granted permission for Ukraine to fire American weapons into Russia, Kyiv took advantage of its new latitude, striking a military facility over the border using a U.S.-made artillery system, according to a member of Ukraine’s Parliament.

Yehor Chernev, the deputy chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament’s committee on national security, defense and intelligence, said on Tuesday that Ukrainian forces had destroyed Russian missile launchers with a strike in the Belgorod region, about 20 miles into Russia. Ukraine’s forces used a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, he said.

It was the first time a Ukrainian official has acknowledged publicly that Ukraine had used American weapons to fire into Russia since President Biden lifted the ban on such strikes. For months, the ban had stood as a red line the Biden administration would not cross out of concern about increasing tensions with a nuclear-armed nation.

The Ukrainian military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In granting permission last week, the United States imposed limitations, saying the weapons could only be used in Russian territory near northeastern Ukraine and for defensive purposes. Mr. Chernev, in text messages, said Ukraine destroyed S-300 and S-400 missile systems, without specifying how many. Russia has used the systems, initially designed to shoot down aircraft, to bombard the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, which is just 45 miles from Belgorod.

The HIMARS that Ukraine used is an American-made long-range rocket system that is able to fire from beyond the range of most of Ukraine’s non-Western weaponry.

Mr. Chernev’s account of the strike could not be independently confirmed. But videos of the aftermath of the attack on the S-300 and S-400 systems emerged on Monday. Satellite imagery and social media posts suggest there were multiple strikes in Russian territory over the weekend.