US approves transfer of long-range multiple-launch rocket systems to Ukraine: Report

Biden administration on May 28, Saturday, approved the advanced, long-range rocket systems to Ukraine as a part of the package of military and other assistance, despite the fact that the US had been previously reluctant to dispatch the advanced weaponry. The approval came after extensive discussions between the deputy cabinet members during two national security policy meetings at the White House last week, according to a new report. As Russia’s forces concentrated in Ukraine’s eastern Donbass region and intensified the assaults, Kyiv and President Volodymyr Zelensky urged the US and other Western nations to deploy more weaponry, especially the so-called Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS). 

Ukraine’s military had requested Washington to provide High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS). This was backed by the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who said in a televised statement that sending advanced, long-range rocket systems “would enable them [Ukraine forces] to defend themselves against the brutal Russian artillery, and that’s where the world needs to go down.” 

Ukrainian officials 'convinced' Washington to provide long-range missile systems

Both MLRS and HIMARS can launch missiles at a range of approximately 186 miles. The US had expressed concerns about how Ukraine’s soldiers might use the rocket system, fearing escalation of the war. Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other high-ranking Ukrainian officials had convinced Washington to provide long-range missile systems and it was at the top of the agenda at last week's two meetings. A Biden administration official had earlier emphasized that while certain advanced munitions that can be fired by the MLRS and reach up to 190 miles were being sent to Ukraine, “no long-range strike weapons are being considered."

For weeks White House officials grappled to send to Kyiv greater offensive capabilities, after having declined the backfill request by Poland with F-16s to dispatch the fighter jets to Ukraine. Systems being sent to Ukraine's military could be M31 GMLRS, short for Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System, and can be equipped with satellite-guided missiles, the new report said. Russia's state media had discussed the prospects of US providing advanced weaponry to Ukraine as escalatory.  "The US intends to discuss the issue of supplying Ukraine with these weapons as soon as next week," Olga Skabeeva, a prominent Russian TV host, said on state network Rossiya-1. "At the present moment, the issue is being addressed by the US presidential administration. So now, we are not even talking about tactical weapons anymore, but about the operational-tactical weapons," she added.