Germany has officially allowed Ukraine to use its weapons on Russian territory

The German government has granted Ukraine permission to use German-supplied weapons to strike targets in Russia, government spokesman Steffen Gebestreit said on Friday, 31 May.

‘Together with our closest allies and in close dialogue with the Ukrainian government, we are constantly adjusting our support in line with the developments in the military operations,’ he said.

According to Gebestreit, in recent weeks Ukraine has been subject to attacks, particularly in the Kharkiv region, which were ‘prepared, coordinated and carried out’ from positions directly adjacent to the Russian border.

‘We are all convinced that Ukraine has the right under international law to defend itself against these attacks,’ he said.

Germany, which ranks second after the United States in terms of military aid to Ukraine, has supplied a large amount of military equipment, including heavy artillery and rocket launchers. However, Berlin has so far refused to allow Kyiv to use German weapons to strike Russian targets, fearing an escalation of the conflict.

The day before, the American edition of Politico and CNN reported that the US presidential administration, following Joe Biden's instructions, tacitly allowed Ukraine to strike with American weapons on the territory of Russia, but ‘exclusively on the border with Kharkiv region’ in order to protect Kharkiv, which is under attack by Russian troops.

This information was confirmed on Friday by the press secretary of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Serhiy Nikiforov.

‘This will significantly strengthen our ability to counter Russian attempts to advance across the border,’ he said.

Speaking in Prague on Friday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed the US decision to ease restrictions on the use of weapons supplied to Ukraine for strikes on Russian territory. He stressed that ‘Ukraine has the right to self-defence, and this includes the right to attack legitimate military targets on Russian territory’.

Background. Also today, it was reported that Germany will provide Ukraine with another Patriot system – it is specified that it will come along with a large package of military aid from Germany announced on 30 May.