A Russian missile strike hits a printing house in Kharkiv, killing seven and injuring at least 16 others. U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, urges the president to allow Ukraine to shoot U.S. weapons into Russia, NYT says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russia fired about 15 S-300 or S-400 missiles on the city of Kharkiv and the surrounding region on Thursday, targeting mostly civilian infrastructure and a printing house in Kharkiv. Seven people were killed and at least 16 others injured in the city of Kharkiv. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russian forces also struck Zolochiv, injuring two people, head of the Kharkiv regional military administration, Oleh Synehubov said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Lyubotyn, medics provided aid to two people wounded in a Russian attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russian missiles hit a printing house in Kharkiv, Synehubov said later in the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The director of the Vivat publishing house, Yulia Orlova, confirmed to \u201cUkrainska Pravda.Culture\u201d that the missiles hit the Factor Druk printing house that prints their books. She said whereabouts of some people were unknown as a massive fire was raging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi denounced the \u201cextremely brutal Russian attack\u201d on Kharkiv, calling for a more decisive action by Ukraine\u2019s international allies to counter Russian terror. He also urged to allow Ukraine to use Western-provided weapons to strike missile-launchers inside Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAn extremely brutal Russian attack on Kharkiv and Lyubotyn. According to preliminary data, Russia launched 15 missiles at once. Unfortunately, there are casualties. Emergency services have already arrived at the scene of the attacks, and all those injured will receive the necessary assistance. Russian terrorists are taking advantage of Ukraine\u2019s lack of sufficient air defense protection and reliable capability to destroy terrorist launchers at their exact locations, which are close to our borders. This weakness is not our weakness, but that of the world\u2019s, which for the third year already has not dared to deal with the terrorists exactly as they deserve,\u201d he said in a social media post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inside the White House, a debate swirls over letting Ukraine shoot U.S. weapons into Russia. After a sobering trip to Kyiv, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken is urging the president to lift restrictions on how Ukraine can use American arms, according to The New York Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Propelled by the State Department, there is now a vigorous debate inside the administration over relaxing the ban to allow the Ukrainians to hit missile and artillery launch sites just over the border in Russia \u2014 targets that Mr. Zelensky says have enabled Moscow\u2019s recent territorial gains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The proposal, pressed by Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken after a sobering visit to Kyiv last week, is still in the formative stages, and it is not clear how many of his colleagues among Mr. Biden\u2019s inner circle have signed on. It has not yet been formally presented to the president, who has traditionally been the most cautious, officials said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The State Department spokesman, Matthew A. Miller, declined to comment on the internal deliberations over Ukraine policy, including Mr. Blinken\u2019s report after his return from Kyiv.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But officials involved in the deliberations said Mr. Blinken\u2019s position had changed because the Russians had opened a new front in the war, with devastating results. Moscow\u2019s forces have placed weapons right across the border from northeastern Ukraine, and aimed them at Kharkiv \u2014 knowing the Ukrainians would only be able to use non-American drones and other weaponry to target them in response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For months, Mr. Zelensky has been mounting attacks on Russian ships, oil facilities and electricity plants, but he has been doing so largely with Ukrainian-made drones, which don\u2019t pack the power and speed of the American weapons. And increasingly, the Russians are shooting down the Ukrainian drones and missiles or sending them astray, thanks to improved electronic warfare techniques.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, the pressure is mounting on the United States to help Ukraine target Russian military sites, even if Washington wants to maintain its ban on attacking oil refineries and other Russian infrastructure with American-provided arms. Britain, usually in lockstep with Washington on war strategy, has quietly lifted its own restrictions, so that its \u201cStorm Shadow\u201d cruise systems can be used to target Russia more broadly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The United States is now considering training Ukrainian troops inside the country, rather than sending them to a training ground in Germany. That would require putting American military personnel in Ukraine, something else that Mr. Biden has prohibited until now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday that the United States needs \u201cto allow Ukraine to prosecute the war in the way they see fit,\u201d when it comes to how Ukraine uses U.S.-provided weapons in its war against Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n