WASHINGTON (NEWSnet/AP) — Ukraine has used U.S weapons to strike inside Russia in recent days, according to a U.S. senator and a Western official familiar with the matter.

The weapons were used under recently approved guidance from President Joe Biden allowing American arms to be used to strike inside Russia for the limited purpose of defending Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city.

Republican Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota, a member on the Senate Armed Services Committee, confirmed the strikes with U.S. weapons, but did not say how he was briefed.

Biden’s directive allows for U.S.-supplied weapons to be used to strike Russian forces that are attacking or preparing to attack. It does not change U.S. policy that directs Ukraine not to use American-provided ATACMS or long-range missiles and other munitions to strike offensively inside Russia, U.S. officials have said.

According to a June 3 report from the Institute for the Study of War, Ukrainian forces struck a Russian S-300/400 air defense battery in Belgorod region, likely with the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, on June 1 or June 2. The air defense system was located about 40 miles from the current front line in northern Kharkiv region and more than 50 miles from the city of Kharkiv, which is within the range of HIMARS, the institute reported.

Ukrainian officials had stepped up calls on the U.S. to allow Kyiv’s forces to defend themselves against attacks originating from Russian territory. Kharkiv is about 12 miles from the Russian border and has fallen under increased Russian attacks.

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