The United States has never prohibited Ukraine from shooting down Russian aircraft in Russian airspace. This was stated by John Kirby, Strategic Communications Coordinator for the US National Security Council, as reported by Yulia Yarmolenko, a correspondent of the Ukrainian service of the Voice of America, on social network X.
“I just want to point out that there has been some confusion about this. There have never been any restrictions on Ukrainians shooting down enemy aircraft, even if those aircraft are not necessarily in Ukrainian airspace. They can shoot down Russian planes that pose an impending threat, and they have been doing so since the beginning of the war,” the White House official said.
NEW from Kirby: “There's never been a restriction on the Ukrainians shooting down hostile aircrafts, even if those aircrafts are not necessarily in Ukrainian airspace. They can shoot down RU airplanes that pose an impending threat and they have since the beginning of the war”
— iuliia iarmolenko (@yu_yarmolenko) June 4, 2024
Earlier, we reported that the USA is ready to discuss the expansion of the geography of strikes on Russian territory with American weapons requested by Ukraine.
