The war in Ukraine, which began with Russia’s invasion on February 14, 2022 , is now 2 ½ years old. Recent advancements of this conflict between Ukrainian and Moscow’s armed forces include Zelensky’s proposal for US officials to weaken their weapons restrictions. 

Ukraine’s current military strategy is to go on the offensive against Russia. Moreover, Ukraine finds itself hoping to strike deeper within Russian territory to give themselves an edge against the Kremlin’s armed forces. 

To do that, however, Ukraine is relying on the United States and its allies to provide offensive weapons such as the  US long-range ATACMS missiles. 

US officials and its NATO allies are concerned that a stronger Ukrainian presence deeper within Russia could very well backfire, causing Putin to strike back harder which would lead to a prolonging of the war. 

In fact, Putin warned, at the United Nations on September 13, that any Ukrainian attempts to utilize American or European military hardware to mount deeper into Russia would turn NATO into a bigger enemy of Russia, a nuclear power. 

If Ukraine was authorized to use the ATACMS missiles, not only would it cost both Russia and Ukraine, but would complicate matters on the American front as well. 

I think ​​this article by Reuters on Ukraine’s proposal highlighted the concerns of all stake-holders involved, that being the Ukrainians seeking more effective offensive tactics, US officials concerned over the effects of authorizing such missiles to Ukraine, and Russia obviously staunchly warning the US and NATO against this endeavor. 

I feel, however, that Ukraine should focus on pushing Russia out of their eastern territories instead of embarking further within the enemy’s land. 

The US should continue to remain wary about authorizing this weaponry as this could backfire against Ukraine and prolong this conflict, escalating the already 500,000 death toll of Ukrainian soldiers. Not to forget, this would significantly increase hostilities between Russia and the US/NATO. 

While I do think that Putin is simply trying to instigate fear within the enemy when stressing that they are a nuclear power, which isn’t new, that doesn’t mean Russia won’t push back against Ukraine at all.

The Kremlin may strike western Ukraine and even Poland from Belarus as they are one of the few allies of Russia, and one that borders both Russia and Northern Ukraine.

As for the US, it will have to be prepared for a Russian counter-response by revving up their security within Europe, adding to the measure of complicated protocols following Ukraine’s use of these missiles into Russia. 

Ultimately, I feel that Ukraine airstriking deeper into Russia creates new issues to resolve within the overall conflict for all stakeholders. This tactic may seem effective at this moment, but the events that could and would unfold as a result would add fuel to the exceedingly large fire.