Zelenskyy’s response muted after Biden OKs long-range missile use

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has spoken after a long-awaited decision came from Washington giving permission for Ukraine to use US-supplied long-range missiles to strike targets deeper inside Russia.

But despite Zelenskyy pleading such permission for weeks, his response in his nightly video address was notably muted.

“Today, much is being said in the media about us receiving permission for the relevant actions. But strikes are not made with words. Such things are not announced. The missiles will speak for themselves,” he said.

Zelenskyy’s comments come after reports emerged that President Joe Biden had authorised the use of US weaponry by Ukraine to strike inside Russia in a major US policy shift in his final weeks in the White House.

The weapons are expected to be used in response to North Korea’s decision to send thousands of troops to Russia in support of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, according to one of the sources.

Zelenskyy also spoke about Russia’s massive drone and missile attack on Ukraine on Sunday, described by officials as one of the largest ever that targeted energy infrastructure and killed civilians.

That attack came as fears mount about Moscow’s intentions to devastate Ukraine’s power generation capacity ahead of the cold winter.

Russia reportedly launched a total of 120 missiles and 90 drones in a large-scale attack across Ukraine.

“Russia has been doing the same thing for almost a thousand days and it is necessary to defend against it, to be strong. Time should be invested not to talk to someone in Moscow, but to force Russia to end the war,” Zelenskyy said.

Fears of escalation

Biden had always been reluctant to grant Kyiv permission to use US weapons for anything other than defensive purposes, fearing to do so would be a major escalation that could draw the US and other NATO members into direct conflict with Russia.

But some supporters argued that this and other US constraints could cost Ukraine the war and the debate has become a source of disagreement among Ukraine’s NATO allies.

But North Korea has deployed thousands of troops to Russia to help Moscow try to claw back territory in the Kursk region that Ukraine seized this year.

The introduction of North Korean troops into the conflict comes as Moscow has seen a favourable shift in momentum.

As many as 12,000 North Korean troops have been sent to Russia, according to US, South Korean and Ukrainian assessments.

American and South Korean intelligence officials say North Korea also has provided Russia with significant amounts of munitions to replenish its dwindling weapons stockpiles.

President-elect Trump has signalled that he could push Ukraine to agree to surrender some land seized by Russia to bring about an end to the conflict.

Trump, who takes office in January, spoke for months as a candidate about wanting Russia’s war in Ukraine to be over but mostly ducked questions about whether he wanted US ally Ukraine to win.

He also repeatedly slammed the Biden administration for giving Kyiv tens of billions of dollars in aid.

His election victory has Ukraine’s international backers worrying that any rushed settlement would mostly benefit Putin.