The Ukrainian military has been granted permission to strike targets across Russian territory using weapons supplied by the Netherlands.
This was reported by Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, where Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans confirmed that Ukraine can use Dutch-supplied weapons on Russian soil for defensive purposes in accordance with international law.
"Ukraine has the right to self-defense. If the country is attacked from border regions or from Russian airfields, it can target military facilities. The same applies to enemy missiles—they can also be intercepted with our weapons over Russia," Brekelmans stated.
He added that international law is not constrained by distance and that "the right to self-defense does not cease 100 kilometers from the border." He emphasized that the Netherlands has imposed no operational distance restrictions on Ukraine.
This permission also directly applies to the F-16 fighter jets that the Netherlands will deliver to Ukraine.
Brekelmans further urged other Western countries to lift restrictions on the use of their weapons supplied to Ukraine.
For months, official Kyiv has repeatedly asked Western partners for permission to target military installations and airbases deep within Russia using Western-supplied arms. These requests intensified after the Russian army launched an offensive in Kharkiv region in May and escalated missile and guided bomb attacks on civilian areas and Kharkiv itself.
While most European nations have supported this request, the U.S. and Germany have opposed such strikes, fearing an escalation in the conflict. Specifically, the U.S. has limited the use of its missiles to within 100 kilometers of Ukraine’s border with Russia.
