Russian civilians killed; Kremlin puts blame on the United States.
Moscow is shocked: Russians are losing their lives in their homeland because of the war. For the first time, the Kremlin has placed the blame on Washington as the Ukraine now has permission to use Western weapons within Russia's borders. Security expert Mölling sees this as a significant contributor to Kiev's success.
Russia has held the United States responsible for the deaths of women and children within its own country due to the delivery of weapons to the Ukraine. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova stated that the Ukraine had used weapons supplied by the US in the past week for attacks in the Belgorod border region. Statements from the US government approving such attacks equated to "a confession ... for the killing of children and women in the Belgorod region," she added. Additionally, Zakharova mentioned fragments of a HIMARS rocket as proof, but didn't display any. Neither the Ukraine nor the US commented on this.
The accusation follows warnings from Russian President Vladimir Putin about potential global conflict if the West let the Ukraine use US weapons on Russian territory.
On May 31, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed that President Joe Biden had agreed to let the Ukraine defend the Kharkiv region, which borders Belgorod, using US weapons, even if it involved targets on Russian soil. The same position was later adopted by the German government. The US still does not allow the Ukraine to use US weapons to attack further into Russia.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg declared that according to international law, the Ukraine has the right to defend itself militarily, including attacking legitimate military targets within the territory of the aggressor Russia. "The Ukraine has the right to self-defense," he said in a joint press conference with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson. This includes striking legitimate military targets within the territory of the aggressor Russia.
Christian Mölling, a security expert and research director at the German Council on Foreign Relations, believes there has been an immediate positive impact following the decision that the Ukraine can now attack targets within Russia with Western weapons. The Charkiv region can initially be secured, preventing Russia from easily launching attacks on a protected area.
"We observe that, beyond the protection of Kiev, lifting the ban on attacking Russian troops through Western weapons on Russian territory - I'm trying to be very precise here - has quickly improved the situation and brought Ukrainian troops back into focus. So, it doesn't take much. And that's pretty much the effect of weapons when you just permit their use, as the Ukraine can quickly regain the advantage," Mölling shared in the "Stern" podcast "The Situation".
He asked where restrictions on further actions were still in place, implying that those restrictions are responsible for the casualties, the wounded, and damaged infrastructure. The core principle is that it's acceptable to target legitimate military targets. However, allowing it creates "safe havens for the aggressor, which is completely warped."
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