Russian Officials Mull Evacuating Families as Biden OKs Long-Range Strikes
Authorities in Russian regions bordering Ukraine are considering evacuating residents over the threat posed by long-range weapons, which the U.S. has reportedly given Kyiv permission to use.
U.S. President Joe Biden has authorized Ukraine to use the Washington-provided Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS, to strike inside Russian territory, The New York Times and The Washington Post reported, although the White House has not made an announcement. Newsweek has contacted the White House for comment by email.
Unnamed U.S. officials said the permission for Ukraine's forces to use the weapons in limited strikes would not fundamentally change the course of the war. Still, the move delivers a boost for Kyiv, especially as France and the U.K. are set to allow Ukraine to use SCALP/Storm Shadow missiles, the French newspaper Le Figaro reported.
An unnamed official from Russia's Voronezh region expressed panic at the prospect of Ukrainian missile strikes, telling the independent outlet Verstka, "We need to pack our things and take our relatives somewhere far away."
Another official from the region neighboring the Ukrainian war zone said they were sending their colleagues "maps with the missile strike radius."
The outlet also reported that officials believed the region was well protected by Russian air defense and cast doubt on Ukraine using "expensive missiles" on nonmilitary targets.
Expected Ukrainian targets include the Baltimore airfield on the southwestern outskirts of Voronezh, from where key objects have already been relocated, Verstka reported. Companies involved in aviation and missile production are also likely targets, although the outlet cited another official as saying the "the mood is calm" in dismissing concerns about Ukrainian strikes.
Biden's permission is something Kyiv has long called for , but the urgency of its pleas gained momentum after North Korea sent thousands of troops to fight alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin 's forces in the Kursk region.
"Further clarification is needed as to whether the authorization is limited to Kursk Oblast. If so, President Biden should drop that restriction," John Hardie, the deputy director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies' Russia Program, told Newsweek.
"Striking targets such as concentrations of Russian and North Korean troops, command-and-control sites, and logistics nodes can help Ukraine defend its salient in Kursk Oblast," he added.
ATACMS are launched from HIMARS and MLRS, multiple launch rocket systems, and their range of up to 200 miles have allowed Kyiv to hit sites in Crimea and the bridge over the occupied peninsula.
Russian military bloggers have said Biden dropping the prohibition on ATACMS could mark a significant turning point in the war.
The Telegram channel of journalist Roman Saponkov said the use of HIMARS since summer 2022 have destroyed logistics hubs and that the ATACMS strikes on Crimea caused "severe damage, destroyed a lot of equipment and inflicted significant human losses."
"Targets deep within the country will face similar impacts," added the post, which the account shared on X, formerly Twitter .
Hardie believed the outgoing Biden administration and incoming Trump administration should also expand Ukraine's long-range precision-strike capacity, such as transferring JASSM air-launched cruise missiles. He said, "They should also ensure Ukraine has the timely intelligence it needs to prosecute such strikes effectively."
