Politico: US approves of Ukraine striking Crimea

The United States has allowed the Ukrainian army to use Western weapons to attack Crimea if Kyiv deems it necessary.

Kyiv was behind the three explosions this past week on the Russian-annexed peninsula, per a CNN-obtained Ukrainian government document, including a large blast at Saki airbase that destroyed several of Moscow’s warplanes, according to Politico. 

No Ukrainian official has yet publicly admitted to Kyiv’s involvement in the Crimea campaign. But Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov told Voice of America on August 17 that Ukraine hasn’t ruled out striking the occupied territory with U.S.-provided weapons.

“If we are talking today about the de-occupation of temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine where the enemy is, then, correspondingly, we have no such restrictions,” he said, emphasizing that there still would be no attacks inside the legally recognized boundaries of Russia (though there have been some, umm, mysterious blasts on Russian border cities).

A senior administration official told NatSec Daily the U.S. supports strikes on Crimea if Kyiv deems them necessary.

“We don't select targets, of course, and everything we've provided is for self-defence purposes. Any target they choose to pursue on sovereign Ukrainian soil is by definition self-defense,” this person said.

After your host checked to see if the administration considered the peninsula sovereign Ukrainian territory, the official replied: “Crimea is Ukraine.”

A Ukrainian official said that message of support has made its way to Kyiv.