ATACMS: Why the US will let Ukraine attack with its missiles inside Russia

Ukraine has been pleading with the US for months to be allowed to use American weapons to hit military targets in Russia, outside the border zone. As he nears the end of his presidency, Joe Biden has relented and decided to lift some restrictions, according to people familiar with the decision.

Under the new approach, Ukraine will be able to use these weapons against targets in the Kursk region, a swath of Russian territory it occupied this summer and is trying to hold despite attacks by Russian and North Korean forces. The U.S. reversal is a response to North Korea’s decision to send more than 10,000 troops to Kursk as part of a deepening alliance with Moscow and to stepped-up Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, the people with knowledge said of the case.