Ukraine war: Biden lifts ban on Kyiv using US missiles to defend Kharkiv

The United States has given Ukraine permission to use US-supplied weapons to target Russia, but solely for defending Ukraine’s embattled city of Kharkiv, an American official has said.

The decision amounts to a reversal by US president Joe Biden, who had until now steadfastly refused to let Ukraine use American weaponry for strikes inside Russia.

Ukrainian officials, most notably Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, have been increasingly vocal in arguing that the restriction was putting Ukrainian forces in an untenable situation as Russia has intensified attacks around the northeast Kharkiv region.

Sri Lanka and Russia are starting talks Thursday to resolve the issue of Sri Lankans fighting alongside Russians in the war against Ukraine, after at least 16 people were reported missing in action.

Junior Foreign Minister Tharaka Balasuriya said that the Sri Lankans, mostly retired soldiers, had been duped into traveling to Russia with promises of good salaries and privileges including Russian citizenship.

“The situation in Russia is very unfortunate,” Balasuriya told reporters, adding that he is working with the defense ministry to ascertain the number of people fighting in Russia.

Russian missiles struck three sites in Kharkiv, Ukraine‘s second-largest city, killing at least three people and injuring 16, local officials said early today.

The missiles hit a five-storey apartment block, a shop in a three-storey building and a sewing factory, according to various accounts.

The death toll is expected to rise further as people are feared buried under the rubble.

Regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said the attacks on the city’s Novobazarskyi district, used the “double tap” technique that has occurred recently, delivering a second strike soon after an initial attack on a given site.

He said that, according to preliminary information, S-300 missiles were used.

“The third, fourth and fifth floors are destroyed, stairwells were destroyed, facades were destroyed,” Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov told public broadcaster Suspilne, describing damage to the apartment building.

Mr Syniehubov said at least two children were among those injured in the attack, which occurred at about midnight local time. He warned that residents could be trapped underneath rubble left by the strike.

Two people suffered injuries after a Ukrainian drone strike on an oil depot in the southern Russian city of Krasnodar caused a massive fire, officials in the region said. Krasnodar governor Veniamin Kondratyev said the fire was caused by falling drone debris and has been controlled since.

“The situation is more serious in the Temryuk district, the infrastructure of the oil depot there was damaged by an air strike,” he said on the Telegram messaging app.

The head of the Temryuk district of Krasnodar said on Telegram that two people suffered minor injuries as a result of the attack.

The extent of the fire is not yet known.

There was no immediate comment from Ukraine. Kyiv has said targeting Russia’s energy, military and transport infrastructure undermines Moscow’s overall war effort.

Russia has previously denounced Ukranian attacks on its civilian energy facilities and residential areas as terrorism.

Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence operation claimed that sea drones destroyed two Russian KS-701 patrol boats in the Black Sea off the Russia-annexed Crimean peninsula. Russian officials did not immediately comment on the claim.

The air force said the overnight attacks included eight S-300 ballistic missiles, 11 cruise missiles and 32 Shahed drones. All the drones and seven of the cruise missiles were shot down, the air force said but did not give other details.

China will not attend the Ukraine peace conference being hosted by Switzerland next month, according to four sources with direct knowledge of the matter.

Beijing declined the invitation because the conditions for their participation were not met, including the inclusion of both Russia and Ukraine, three sources stated.

The Swiss government, which has a largely neutral stance on the Russia-Ukraine war, is hosting a summit on 15-16 June and expecting a diverse turnout from various global regions to pave the way for a peace process in Ukraine.

The Swiss have not invited Moscow, casting doubts on what the conference could achieve without the participation of one of the parties to the war.

China has told diplomats this week that the conditions that called for the conference to recognise both Russia and Ukraine were not met, one source said.

Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov yesterday suggested that China could arrange a peace conference in which Russia and Ukraine could participate.

The Kremlin said on Thursday that the United States, NATO and some European countries were encouraging Ukraine to continue what it called Kyiv’s “senseless war” with Russia and accused them of escalating tensions in recent weeks.

Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022 in what it called a special military operation, and Kyiv says it is defending itself – with Western help – in an effort to expel all Russian forces from its territory.

It says Russia is working hard to try to undermine its morale and will to fight.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Thursday accused some Western countries of raising tensions in recent weeks by allowing Ukraine to use weapons they had supplied against targets inside Russia, something the United States has not publicly agreed to do yet.

“The member countries of the North Atlantic Alliance – the United States in particular, other European capitals – have in recent days and weeks embarked on a new round of escalation,” Peskov told reporters.

“They are doing this deliberately. We hear a lot of bellicose statements. … They are encouraging Ukraine in every possible way to continue this senseless war,” he said.

“This will all, of course, inevitably have consequences and will ultimately be very damaging to the interests of those countries that have taken the path of escalation.”

Hungary‘s top diplomat visited Belarus on Wednesday for talks on expanding ties despite the European Union’s sanctions against the country.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó declared that “our position is clear: the fewer sanctions, the more cooperation!”

The EU has slapped an array of sweeping sanctions on Belarus for the repression, which followed mass protests fueled by the 2020 presidential election that was widely seen by the opposition and the West as rigged. Belarus’ isolation further deepened after authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko allowed Russian troops to use his country’s territory to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday he will greet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy along with other world leaders in Normandy for the 80th anniversary commemorations of D-Day.

President Joe Biden is also scheduled to attend this year’s commemorations of the landings that led to the liberation of France and Europe from Nazi Germany’s occupation.

Dozens of World War II veterans are expected to return, many perhaps for the last time, to Normandy’s beaches.

Russia conducted an array of aerial attacks on Ukraine with cruise missiles, drones and ballistic missiles, Ukraine’s air force said Thursday, while the chief of the army said Russia is increasing its troop concentration in the Kharkiv region where Moscow‘s forces have made significant advances in a spring offensive.

Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence operation claimed that sea drones destroyed two Russian KS-701 patrol boats in the Black Sea off the Russia-annexed Crimean peninsula. Russian officials did not immediately comment on the claim.

The air force said the overnight attacks included eight S-300 ballistic missiles, 11 cruise missiles and 32 Shahed drones. All the drones and seven of the cruise missiles were shot down, the air force said but did not give other details.