Pentagon Says It Supports Ukraine Using US Weapons in Russia’s Kursk Oblast

The Pentagon said on Thursday that Ukraine is allowed to use US weapons in its offensive in Russia’s Kursk Oblast, which began on Tuesday.

Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh was asked if Ukraine’s use of US-provided weapons in Kursk was “consistent” with US policy. “It is consistent with our policy,” she said.

Singh framed the attack on Kursk as a defensive operation against Russian attacks from across the border, saying the US has “supported Ukraine from the beginning to defend themselves against attacks that are coming across the border.”

For the first two years of the war, the US prohibited Ukraine from striking Russian territory with US-provided missiles but recently lifted that restriction in the wake of Russia’s offensive in Kharkiv. The administration claims it won’t support “long-range” strikes into Russian territory, but it’s not clear what the limit is.