BarcelonaOne of the many unknowns surrounding the Ukrainian incursion into Russia is the weapons that Kiev has used, given Moscow’s vastly larger military. The British executive allayed those doubts on Thursday, at least in part, by allowing Ukraine to use British weapons on Russian soil. The Ministry of Defence said the decision was based on Ukraine’s “right to self-defence” “against unlawful attacks by Russia.” Until now, London has allowed the weapons to be used against Russia on Ukrainian soil, but it has not ruled on whether Kiev could attack Russia with such weapons. While the ministry has placed restrictions on the use of the long-range Storm Shadow missiles, it is working to expand the scope of the authorisations Kiev has already obtained.
In May, the United States and Germany gave Ukraine permission to attack Russia directly with Western weapons, but only on the condition that the attack be limited to the border region with Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, where Kremlin forces recently opened a new front. But in the face of Zelensky’s repeated demands, the question of whether Ukraine should be able to attack Russian territory with the weapons it has delivered has sparked debate among NATO countries. While NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has called striking Russian military targets “self-defense,” some member states fear that such authorization would increase the risk of escalation.
Now, explicit UK permission could turn the tide and make other Western allies accept the risk of their weapons being used in Russia. Indeed, sources cited by Reuters say that the Ukrainian military has already used British Challenger 2 tanks inside Russia during the incursion. Zelensky has long been trying to show his Western allies that the quickest way to end the conflict is to arm Ukraine more to win the war. So a successful incursion into Russian territory could be the step needed to convince them.
Ukraine’s advances appear to be building. President Zelenskyy said Thursday that Ukrainian authorities have set up a military administration in the Russian city of Sudzha. In addition to its strategic importance — the city hosts the crossing of two important gas pipelines for Russia — setting up military offices sends a message to Moscow that Kyiv intends to stay there, at least for now. Ukraine’s commander-in-chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said his forces had advanced 35 kilometers into the Kursk region, where they already control 1,150 square kilometers of Russian territory and more than 80 municipalities.
Evacuation of civilians
While Ukrainian forces are optimistic, images of hundreds of thousands of people fleeing across the border show that Russian authorities did not anticipate—and were not prepared for—the war to directly impact Russian territory, pushing Russia into a new phase of improvisation and uncertainty. At least 200,000 civilians have been evacuated from areas bordering Ukraine so far, according to Russian data, since the incursion began.
The UN human rights office said on Thursday it had asked Moscow to allow access to Russian border areas affected by a cross-border offensive by Ukrainian forces. The acting governor of Kursk ordered the “mandatory evacuation” of the Gluyshkov district of Kursk region, with a population of 20,000. To “protect” residents on the border, Russia’s defence minister said he was personally overseeing evacuation plans and had sent more troops to the area. In addition, the neighbouring Belgorod region raised its state of emergency level on Thursday from regional to federal, implying that the region would receive additional resources.
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