White House confirms, officially this time, that Kyiv has Biden’s permission to fire ATACMS into Russia

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby confirmed during a press briefing on Monday that the Biden administration has formally authorized the Ukrainian military to fire U.S.-supplied ATACMS missiles at targets inside Russia. 

“They are able to use ATACMS to defend themselves on an immediate-need basis, and right now, understandably, that's taken place in and around Kursk," Kirby said. “We did change the guidance and gave them guidance that they can use them to strike these particular types of targets.”

Earlier this month, The New York Times reported that President Biden had authorized Kyiv to use the longer-range missiles after months of hesitation due to escalation concerns. 

Ukraine’s first reported ATACMS strikes inside Russia began on November 19. Moscow says these attacks targeted military facilities in the Bryansk region. On November 25, videos started circulating on Telegram showing another ATACMS strike, this time against an airfield near Kursk. The attack apparently involved five to eight missiles. Later in the day, Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed to have intercepted eight ballistic missiles fired from Ukraine, though the military didn’t specify where they downed the incoming rockets or what type of missiles they were.