Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy greets US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Kyiv, May 14, 2024 (Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty)

Wednesday’s Coverage: Kyiv Destroys “Last Russian Warship With Cruise Missiles in Crimea”

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1815 GMT:

Ukraine forces shot down two Russian Su-25 fighter jets on Thursday.

Six Su-25s have been downed in May.

The fighter jets provide close air support for Russian assaults on Ukrainian positions in the Donetsk region in easter Ukraine.

UPDATE 1809 GMT:

The death toll from today’s Russian strikes on the Kharkiv region in northeast Ukraine (see 0926 GMT) has risen to seven.

Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba posted about the strikes, which demolished a printing press for the country’s publishing houses:

UPDATE 1825 GMT:

The CEO of Russia State oil company Rosneft has asked the Kremlin for “tax benefits to offset the costs of [Ukrainian] drone attacks on oil refineries in the Russian Federation.”

More than a dozen oil refineries have been struck by drones this year, reducing Russian oil output by up to 14%.

CEO Igor Sechin, a long-time ally of Vladimir Putin, wrote Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin that because of the increase in “terrorist risks”, the company has been forced to implement a wide and costly set of measures.

Sechin said the company suspended operations at the Syzran, Ryazan, Kuibyshev, and Tuapse refineries.

UPDATE 1806 GMT:

A 74-year-old man has been killed by a Russian attack on the village of Mala Tokmachka in the Zaporizhzhia region in southern Ukraine.

The man was killed in his yard as a blast wave and debris destroyed a house and neighboring buildings.

UPDATE 0926 GMT:

At least five civilians have been killed and 13 wounded by the latest Russian attacks on the Kharkiv region in northeast.

The fatalities and seven of the injured were in Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv. Two people are missing.

The Russians carried out 15 strikes, probably with S-300 missiles, against transport infrastructure and a building of a communal services company. A printing shop was set on fire.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy commented:

Russian terrorists are taking advantage of Ukraine’s lack of sufficient air defense protection and reliable capability to destroy terrorist launchers at their exact locations, which are close to our borders. And this weakness is not ours, but the world’s, which has not dared to deal with terrorists in the way they deserve for three years.

UPDATE 0818 GMT:

A deputy head of Russia’s military has been detained on suspicion of receiving a large bribe.

Lt. Gen. Vadim Shamarin, the Deputy Chief of General Staff and head of the Main Directorate of Communications, is the latest senior officer to be arrested this spring.

Those seized include Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov, amid the replacement of Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu and claims of in-fighting among Russian agencies.

UPDATE 0806 GMT:

A police officer, evacuating civilians from Vovchansk in the Kharkiv region in eastern Ukraine, has been killed by a Russian drone.

Video showed the UAV dropping explosives on the police car.

UPDATE 0751 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has thanked Sweden for the commitment of $7 billion in aid over the next three years.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: The Biden Administration is in a top-level debate over whether Ukraine can use US-supplied weapons on strikes inside Russia.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who publicly implied last week that the long-standing ban could be lifted, is pressing a proposal “still in the formative stages”. It has not yet been formally presented to the President.

Last month the Administration finally approved the delivery to Kyiv of ATACMS missile systems, with a range of 300 km (186 miles), as part of $60.8 billion in military aid authorized by Congress after a 6 1/2-month blockade.

However, US officials said the missiles could only be used on targeted in Russian-occupied Crimea. As the start of last week, they restated the conditions in statements to American outlets.

Visiting Kyiv, Blinken modified the line. He said in a press conference on May 15 that while the US was not encouraging any use inside Russia, the decision was up to Ukraine.

The Pentagon pushed back. Spokesperson Sabrina Singh told reporters, “We believe that the equipment, the capabilities that we are giving Ukraine, that other countries are giving to Ukraine should be used to take back Ukrainian sovereign territory.” US officials repeated the statement over the weekend.

Blinken tried again on Wednesday, responding to criticism of the ban by the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Michael McCaul:

When it comes to authorizing and approving attacks beyond Ukrainian borders — we haven’t done that, but Ukraine will have to make its own decisions, and I want to make sure that it gets the equipment it needs to defend itself effectively.

Will A Changed Secretary of State Make The Difference?

Officials said this week that Blinken’s position changed because of Russia’s cross-border offensive into Kharkiv in northeast Ukraine, launched on May 10. They noted that the Russians are striking from the air and ground across the region, knowing that the Ukrainians can only respond with non-American drones and other weaponry.

The UK has lifted restrictions on Ukraine’s launches of Storm Shadow long-range missiles. Foreign Secretary David Cameron said during a visit to Kyiv, days before Blinken’s, that Kyiv “absolutely has the right to strike back at Russia”.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin hedged earlier this week. Rather than repeating the prohibition, he said:

Our expectation is that they continue to use the weapons that we’ve provided on targets inside of Ukraine.

The aerial dynamic’s a little bit different. And so — but again, don’t — don’t want to speculate on any — any one or — or any type of engagement here at the podium.

On Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson — whose shift was essential in breaking the 6 1/2-month blockade by Trumpists and hard-right Republicans on aid to Ukraine — called for the lifting of the ban.