Ukraine escalation fears as it emerges western ban on Kyiv’s missile targeting into Russia was secretly lifted in November and not restricted to the defence of Kursk as previously thought
A ban on Ukraine using western-supplied weapons to attack Russia was secretly lifted months ago, the Daily Mirror can exclusively reveal. Kyiv military sources say permission was quietly granted as long back as in November 2024 for troops to fire deadly missiles at Russian targets.
It means NATO countries such as the UK could face a major escalation in tensions with the Kremlin and hostilities could be more open. The Daily Mirror warned earlier this month that tension with Moscow was making the UK particularly vulnerable to Russian-backed sabotage attacks. Three recent arson attacks on cars linked to Prime Minister Keir Starmer may have links to Russia, police believe, although Moscow has denied this.
For months now Ukraine has been hammering targets deep with Russian territory, particularly ammunition and kamikaze drone factories. It had been believed Ukraine was restricted to. firing missiles into Russia only if they were in defence of Ukrainian positions in Kursk. But in fact the wider ban was lifted at that time, an action that was kept secret, according to Kyiv sources
And now Washington sources are briefing that US President Donald Trump is considering officially lifting the ban as a warning to Russian President Vladimir Putin. But the Mirror has learned Ukraine was officially given the green light to attack Russian military targets much earlier, with a warning from America to be measured.
That means effectively Trump’s lifting of any weapons use ban would be purely cosmetic as it was already executed under the Biden administration. A military source in Ukraine told the Daily Mirror: “This is a highly complex and difficult issue as we were told the ban was lifted some time ago.
“It just was not being revealed to the public. There was concern about messaging – as in making it known to the public that we were able to fire into Russia with western weapons – that this would be too much for the enemy. There was perhaps a concern about escalation.
“But it seems they now have the understanding of the capability we have of striking deep inside Russian territory. The hitting of the drones factory recently was a particularly useful target since, as we have seen in recent days, they are a big threat.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced this week that Berlin, the UK, France and United States has extended permission to Ukraine to use Western-supplies weapons to broadly attack military targets anywhere in Russia. It was said to have marked the end of a longstanding restriction on Ukraine’s use of western-supplied weapons such as the UK and French Storm Shadow defence missiles.
And our sources have revealed Kyiv’s troops do have supplies of long-range weapons ready to fire into Russia. But they desperately need to top up supplies of ground-to-air defence missiles such as Patriot, some of which cost close to £1 million each.
Ukraine has six Patriot batteries placed strategically around the country. Merz stated: “There are no longer any range restrictions on weapons delivered to Ukraine – neither by the British nor by the French nor by us nor by the Americans.
“This means that Ukraine can now defend itself, for example, by attacking military positions in Russia… With very few exceptions, it didn’t do that until recently.” But in fact Ukraine already had the permission.
Russian forces have taken four border villages in Ukraine’s north-eastern Sumy region, days after Putin said he had issued an order to establish a buffer zone along the border. Meanwhile, a Russian bombing campaign that had escalated in recent days slowed overnight as far fewer Russian drones targeted Ukrainian towns and cities.
Moscow’s invasion has shown no signs of stopping despite months of intense US-led efforts to secure a ceasefire and get traction for peace talks. Since Russian and Ukrainian delegations met in Turkey earlier this month for their first direct talks in three years, a large prisoner exchange has been the only tangible outcome, but negotiations have brought no significant breakthrough.
Between Friday and Sunday, Russia launched around 1,000 drones plus missiles at Ukraine. On Sunday night, Russia launched its biggest drone attack of the three-year war against Ukraine, firing 355 drones.
The weekend surge in Russia’s bombardments of Ukraine drew a rebuke from US president Donald Trump, who said Mr Putin had gone “crazy.” This comment prompted a sharp Kremlin reaction on Monday, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov criticising “emotional reactions” to events.
Mr Peskov adopted a milder tone on Tuesday, hailing US peace efforts and saying that “the Americans and President Trump have taken a quite balanced approach.” In Sumy, Russian forces are trying to advance deeper after capturing villages.
Mr Putin visited the Kursk region last week for the first time since Moscow claimed that it had driven Ukrainian forces out of the area last month. Kyiv officials have denied the claim. Ukraine seized a pocket of land in Kursk last August.