Russia's attacks on civilians in Kharkiv push US to allow strikes at Russia – Former US Army Commander in Europe

Russia's attacks on civilian targets, and in particular Russia's deadly attack on the Epicentr home improvement hypermarket in Kharkiv on Saturday (25 May), are pushing the United States to lower standards for the use of US-supplied weapons against targets in Russia.

Source: Former US Army Europe Commander Mark Hertling in an interview with CNN, reported by Holos Ameryky (Voice of America)

Details: Hertling said, while commenting on the Russian attack on the Epicentr hypermarket, that in view of Russia's attacks on civilians, "we’re probably going to see a lowering of the standards for using that military equipment on specific Russian targets." 

Hertling said that "there is much discussion within the Biden administration" about whether Ukraine should use US-delivered weapons to strike Russian territory. He also noted that there were strong political and military reasons not to. In particular, by allowing Ukraine to use US-supplied weapons against targets in Russia, the US must be prepared to respond to a strong campaign by Russian leader Putin, who will actively claim that the US is attacking Russia with the alleged use of "their proxy forces of Ukraine."

Background:

• It was reported that US House Speaker Mike Johnson believed that the United States should allow Ukraine to wage war "in the way they see fit", commenting on Kyiv's request to allow it to use American weapons to strike Russian territory.
• Earlier, the US House of Representatives Intelligence Committee released an appeal from a group of congressmen from both parties to Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, calling for a faster delivery of weapons to Ukraine and allowing Ukraine to attack targets in Russia.
• President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed in an interview with Reuters that Ukraine is in talks with international partners about the possibility of striking targets in Russia with their weapons.
• On 25 May, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called on NATO allies supplying weapons to Ukraine to lift the ban on their use to target military facilities in Russia. 

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