Ukraine destroyed columns of waiting Russian troops as soon as it was allowed to strike across the border, commander says

A M142 HIMARS rocket in Ukraine. Photo by Serhii Mykhalchuk/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images

• Ukraine has destroyed columns of waiting Russian soldiers with HIMARS, a Ukrainian commander said.
• He said they were targeted as soon as Ukraine got permission to use allied weapons across the border.
• Experts say Ukraine's ability to use Western-supplied weapons on Russian soil is aiding its fightback.

Ukraine has been able to destroy columns of Russian soldiers after it got permission from its allies to use their weapons to strike military targets across the border into Russia, a Ukrainian commander said.

The artillery commander, with the call sign Hefastus, told the Associated Press that Ukrainian HIMARS started firing in the northern Kharkiv region as soon as Ukraine got permission.

"The HIMARS were not silent for the whole day," he said, referring to the US-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket System.

Ukraine got permission from its allies last month to strike military targets in Russia with weapons they'd supplied, reversing a long-held restriction.

"From the first days, Ukrainian forces managed to destroy whole columns of troops along the border waiting for the order to enter Ukraine," Hefastus said, according to the AP.

He said Ukraine could not have achieved this without its new permissions, as regular ammunition cannot reach that far.

Hefastus added that Ukraine was now able to destroy Russian command centers.

His claims have not been independently verified.

Even so, Ukraine appears to have used HIMARS to strike targets in Russia since the restrictions were lifted.

Russia has also been stationing troops close to the border with Ukraine, ready to be called in to fight.

Ukraine's deputy defense minister, Ivan Havryliuk, told the AP that at least 90,000 Russian troops deep in Russian territory were readying for a new assault when the restrictions were lifted.

It's not clear if any of these were the troops allegedly hit by the HIMARS attacks.

In the past, analysts described Ukraine as being forced to fight with one hand behind its back, with Russia using its own territory to resupply its forces and launch drone, missile, and aircraft attacks.

This changed in May, when many of Ukraine's allies said that it could now use weapons they'd supplied to go after military targets on Russian soil.

The US, which announced its policy change on May 30, did not go as far as some, but still said that Ukraine could use weapons it provided to hit into regions across the border from Kharkiv.

This has allowed Ukraine to fight back more forcefully against a new Russian offensive that started in Kharkiv on May 10.

Experts say this new reality has had a big impact there, particularly given the Russian border is so close to the fighting. Russia was able to resupply its forces with troops, ammunition, and equipment and Ukraine could do little to interfere.

George Barros, a Russian military expert at the US-based Institute for the Study of War, told BI that within the first days there was a "positive difference."

"They've actually helped blunt the Russian offensive at the heart," he said, with Ukraine able to launch "small tactical counterattacks."

Some Russian attacks have been reduced, two Ukrainian officials told The Washington Post, but they added that air bases where it is launching attacks from are out of range of what the US permission allows Ukraine to hit.

According to the AP, Ukraine's new strike abilities have "greatly slowed Russia's momentum," with local reports saying they have also allowed Ukrainian troops to push forward and reclaim some territory, although they are still under great pressure.

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