US to Send Ukraine Advanced Rockets; Kyiv Promises Not to Fire Into Russia

The United States plans to send Ukraine advanced long-range artillery that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had requested for weeks, but Biden administration officials said would only be armed with limited-range munitions and would not be used to strike targets inside of Russia. 

White House officials on Tuesday announced that the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, would be part of new $700 million arms package for Ukraine, which has received increasingly more advanced and lethal weapons to fight Russia’s invasion.

“At this time, we've decided not to provide the longer range of munitions,” a senior administration official said. 

On Monday, President Joe Biden told reporters that his administration will “not…send to Ukraine rocket systems that can strike into Russia,” according to a White House pool report. 

But medium-range rockets could reach Russia, if fired from positions near its border.

In the later briefing with reporters, the senior administration official said, “The Ukrainians have given us assurances they will not use these systems against targets in Russian territory.”