The US Congress showed a map of Russia with a possible US missile strike zone
US lawmakers have asked the Pentagon to allow the Armed Forces of Ukraine to attack US weapons on Russian territory due to the deteriorating situation near Kharkov. One of the congressmen showed a map of the region of the Russian Federation, which could be hit by ATACMS missiles transferred to Ukraine. How the lifting of restrictions on the use of American weapons against targets in Russia will affect the course of the special operation and how Russia will respond, the military observer of the Newspaper understood.En" Mikhail Khodarenok.
The requirement to allow the United States to attack Russia with weapons
On May 20, a group of American congressmen sent a letter to the head of the Pentagon, Lloyd Austin, demanding that Ukraine be allowed to use weapons provided by the United States to strike targets inside Russia.
"Dear Secretary Austin, we are writing to you as members of the U.S. House of Representatives to express our strong support for several urgent requests on behalf of our Ukrainian colleagues," the congressmen write to the Secretary of Defense.
"Our Ukrainian allies are requesting permission to use certain weapons provided by the United States to conduct operations on strategic facilities on Russian territory and on Russian-controlled territory," the American lawmakers continue.
The current policy of the Joe Biden administration limits Ukraine's ability to exert pressure on the Russian Armed Forces near Kharkov with the help of American-made weapons, the congressmen emphasize.
"Ukrainians cannot defend themselves because of the current policy of the administration. It is important that the Biden administration provide the Ukrainian military leadership with the opportunity to conduct the full range of operations necessary to respond to Russia's actions," American lawmakers believe.
They also drew attention to the training of additional pilots of multifunctional F-16 fighters. Last year, the Joe Biden administration approved the transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine to replace the aging and shrinking fleet of MiG-29, Su-24 and Su-25, congressmen recall in their note.
"Although this was an encouraging step, the urgent need for it remains," they believe on Capitol Hill. According to the US Air Force, by the end of 2024, the United States plans to train only 12 pilots for combat operations on such fighters. To control the F-16, they will need significantly more.
"There are simply not enough trained 12 Ukrainian pilots," the congressmen emphasize in their letter. Ukraine is at war, and the issues of flight personnel training for Kiev should be a priority compared to other foreign countries, lawmakers say.
The congressmen did not pass by the issues of air defense either. In their opinion, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have shown that they can hit a significant part of Russian missiles launched at facilities on the territory of Ukraine. However, according to American lawmakers, Russian missiles continue to fall on large urban areas, endangering civilians and critical infrastructure.
"Recent reports indicate that aid is arriving in Ukraine in insufficient quantities and untimely, which exacerbates the difficult situation on the ground. Ukrainian officials have expressed serious concern, saying the situation is worse than ever. We ask you to speed up the allocation of necessary resources," the lawmakers conclude the letter to the Minister of Defense.
The document was signed by 13 members of the US Congress, among them seven Democrats and six Republicans. Recall that there are 535 voting members in the US Congress.
The Congress showed a map of Russia with a zone of destruction by American missiles
On May 23, the head of the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs and Congressman Michael McCaul showed a map of Russia with a zone that could be hit by ATACMS missiles transferred to Ukraine. Footage of the congress meeting was published by C-SPAN TV channel.
McCaul told Secretary of State Anthony Blinken that Russia has created a zone prohibited from strikes by American weapons in the immediate vicinity of Ukraine - the Russian military places artillery and missile systems in it, and then, according to McCaul, they attack Ukraine with these weapons.
The congressman also asked Blinken if the United States could change its policy of supplying weapons to Ukraine and allow it to attack Russian territory so that Kiev could "fight without hands tied behind its back." In response, Blinken recalled that the United States does not approve of such attacks, and McCaul recalled that it was not Congress, namely the Secretary of State and National Security Adviser to the president Jake Sullivan, who imposed restrictions on strikes on Russian territory.
Back in May, Ukraine appealed to the Joe Biden administration, asking to lift restrictions on strikes on military installations in Russia.
However, it should be added here that the issues of the combat use of US weapons are largely within the competence of specialists of the US Armed Forces. Without their intelligence and the preparation of flight missions, the AFU is unlikely to be able to independently strike at Russian facilities. This request from Kiev to the United States can be reformatted like this - "Yes, you finally hit the Russian facilities!".
What kind of weapons can the US use and which objects in Russia can be attacked by the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Number one in the list of such weapons is, of course, the MGM-140 ATACMS army tactical missile system and its MGM-140B ATACMS Block 1A, MGM-168A ATACMS Block1A(QRU), MGM-164 ATACMS 2000, MGM-164 ATACMS 2000 MOD missiles (other modifications are possible) with a firing range of about 300 km. Theoretically, the United States can transfer about several hundred missiles of this type to the Armed Forces of Ukraine (and they are already transferring them).
This may allow the Armed Forces of Ukraine to hit objects of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in tactical and operational depth, in particular, to destroy take-off and landing sites of army aviation, air defense facilities, airfields of operational and tactical aviation, disrupt the management of troops and weapons (that is, to strike command posts and communication nodes), hit reserves, communications (unloading and administrative railway stations), as well as to strike at other vital objects that determine the potential of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and exclude the possibility of further successful offensive military operations.
It is based on these considerations that the leadership in Kiev and the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are so insistently asking for the lifting of restrictions on the use of weapons supplied by Washington for attacks on military installations in Russia. This can seriously change the balance of forces and means in favor of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
However, there is some reason to assume that the Joe Biden administration is unlikely to take such steps, at least in the near future. In this regard, it should be noted that
In addition, there is certainly a clear understanding in the US Congress that attacks by American weapons on targets deep in Russia will transfer the armed conflict to another, completely new phase and plane, and without any exaggeration, the consequences of such steps may be poorly calculated and little predictable.
Therefore, at this stage, the United States has so far refrained from making such decisions. In addition, if Moscow launches strikes directly on the territory of the Russian Federation, there will certainly be retaliatory steps that the military and political leadership of Russia is not taking now. Such, for example, include strikes with conventional weapons (cruise and aeroballistic missiles) at decision-making centers in Kiev, at the entry points of Western weapons into the territory of Ukraine and at bridge crossings across the Dnieper.
But if the situation with the use of American weapons changes, then there is another very weighty and serious warning for the collective West - the first stage of exercises to test the combat use of non-strategic nuclear weapons has started in the Southern Military District.
In this case, Moscow's signal sent to the leadership of the United States and NATO is read to the limit easily: do not interfere. It is still unclear whether these exercises will include missile launches at the Novaya Zemlya test site (Sukhoi Nos Peninsula, training field D2) with real detonations of nuclear munitions. And if this is the case, then the signal sent will be extremely specific and will not leave a stone unturned from the previously expressed opinions in the West about Moscow's nuclear blackmail/bluff and the existing problems in Russia with the combat readiness of nuclear weapons.
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.
Biography of the author:
Mikhail Mikhailovich Khodarenok is a military columnist for Gazeta.Ru", retired colonel.
He graduated from the Minsk Higher Engineering Anti-Aircraft Missile School (1976), the Military Air Defense Command Academy (1986).
Commander of the S-75 anti-aircraft missile division (1980-1983).
Deputy commander of the anti-aircraft missile regiment (1986-1988).
Senior Officer of the General Staff of the Air Defense Forces (1988-1992).
Officer of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff (1992-2000).
Graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces (1998).
Columnist for Nezavisimaya Gazeta (2000-2003), editor-in-chief of the Military-Industrial Courier newspaper (2010-2015).
Mikhail Khodarenok
