The US Helsinki Commission has stated that the United States should allow Ukraine to strike with US weapons against Russian troops in Russia's border regions. These forces are supporting the offensive in the Kharkiv region, including firing on Ukrainian territory, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
The Helsinki Commission is a non-governmental organization established by the US Congress in 1975 to monitor and promote compliance with the Helsinki Accords and other OSCE commitments.
On May 15, the Commission stated that the United States should not only allow but encourage Ukrainian forces to strike at Russian troops deployed and firing from the Russian border areas as part of offensive operations in the northern Kharkiv region.
The ISW emphasizes that Ukrainian strikes on forces in Russia that directly support offensive ground operations in the north of the Kharkiv region would be defensive, and it would be incorrect to characterize such actions as an offensive.
ISW analysts insist that the US restrictions on Ukraine's ability to strike military targets in Russia have created shelters in the Russian border regions from which Russian aircraft can launch planned bomb and missile strikes on Ukrainian positions and settlements. These shelters also allow the occupiers' forces to freely accumulate before being deployed to the territory of Ukraine.
"This US policy is severely compromising Ukraine's ability to defend itself against Russian offensive operations in northern Kharkiv Oblast," the Institute's report says.
US restrictions on American weapons use
From the very beginning of the full-scale invasion, the United States has provided military assistance to Ukraine on the condition that American weapons will not be used to strike Russian territory.
The Russian invaders are taking advantage of this in their actions against Ukraine. In particular, now, in combination with other factors, the US ban allows Russians to attack Ukrainian defenders and occupy settlements in the Kharkiv region virtually unhindered.
Currently, a group of Ukrainian parliamentarians in Washington is trying to enlist the help of Congress in lifting the ban.
So far, however, the White House's position remains unchanged.
