KYIV, Ukraine (AP) 鈥� The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it will give Ukraine antipersonnel mines to help it slow , marking the on U.S. military support for Kyiv in days.
After to use to launch strikes deeper into Russia, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the shift in Washington鈥檚 policy on for Ukraine was needed to counter changing Russian tactics.
The war, which on Tuesday, has largely been going Russia鈥檚 way. Moscow's bigger army is slowly in the eastern Donetsk region, while Ukrainian civilians by Russian drones and missiles often fired from inside Russia.
Individual ground troops, rather than forces more protected in armored carriers, are leading the Russian battlefield advance, so Ukraine has 鈥渁 need for things that can help slow down that effort,鈥� Austin said during a trip to Laos.
The announcement comes two months before Donald Trump replaces Joe Biden in the White House. Trump has pledged to swiftly end the war and has criticized the amount the U.S. has spent on supporting Ukraine.
Biden administration officials say they are determined to help Ukraine as much as possible before he leaves office, and they announced Wednesday that the U.S. intends to cancel half of the debt 鈥� some $4.6 billion 鈥� Ukraine owes to the country. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said U.S. lawmakers were informed of the move this week, and that he doesn't expect them to pass a resolution of disapproval to try to stop the loan forgiveness because of the bipartisan support for Ukraine in the current Congress.
The steps taken to help Ukraine 鈥� along with unconfirmed reports Wednesday of Ukraine firing a certain British cruise missile at Russia for the first time 鈥� were likely to vex Moscow.
The U.S. and some other Western embassies in Kyiv temporarily closed on Wednesday in response to the threat of a potentially major Russian aerial attack on the Ukrainian capital.
Humanitarian groups have long criticized the use of antipersonnel mines because they present a lingering threat to civilians. Amnesty International called the U.S. decision 鈥渞eckless鈥� and a 鈥渄eeply disappointing setback." And Norway鈥檚 foreign minister, Espen Barth Eide, called it 鈥渧ery problematic鈥� because Ukraine is a signatory to an international convention opposing the use of land mines.
Austin pointed out that Ukraine already makes its own antipersonnel mines, and that the U.S. has been providing Ukraine with anti-tank mines. He also tried to allay concerns about the new mines the U.S. is giving Kyiv, saying they are not persistent, meaning troops can control when they would self-detonate.
鈥淭hat makes it far more safer eventually than the things that they are creating on their own,鈥� Austin said.
The mines are are electrically fused and powered by batteries so that when the battery runs out, they won鈥檛 detonate. They can become inert in anywhere from four hours to two weeks.
Russia already , but those don鈥檛 become inert over time.
The United States also sought commitments from the Ukrainians on the use of the mines to limit harm to innocent civilians, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. Ukraine would use the mines in its own country and would not put them in civilian populated areas.
The mines are contained in a of new military assistance announced by the Biden administration Wednesday. Also included in the package are High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, as well as 155 mm and 105 mm artillery rounds, Javelin anti-armor munitions, and other equipment and spare parts.
The war has taken on a growing international dimension with the arrival of on the battlefield 鈥� a development that U.S. officials said prompted Biden鈥檚 on allowing Ukraine to fire longer-range U.S. missiles into Russia and that .
Britain had been quietly pressing the U.S. to ease restrictions on how Western-supplied missiles are used, and unconfirmed news reports Wednesday said Ukraine had fired British-made Storm Shadow cruise missiles at Russia for the first time. British and Ukrainian officials didn't confirm the reports.
Officials with France's military and president鈥檚 office, meanwhile, declined to say whether Ukraine is using French long-range SCALP missiles to strike targets in Russia, citing France's military secrecy policy. French President Emmanuel Macron for months.
After the Biden administration allowed Ukraine to attack Russia with longer-range American-made ATACMS missiles, Russian President Vladimir Putin for using his nuclear arsenal, with the new doctrine announced Tuesday by Moscow even to a conventional attack on Russia by any nation that is supported by a nuclear power.
That could potentially include Ukrainian attacks backed by the U.S.
The American diplomatic mission in Kyiv said Wednesday that it had received a warning about a potentially significant Russian air attack on the Ukrainian capital and closed the embassy for several hours before reopening. The Spanish, Italian and Greek embassies also closed, but the U.K. government and France said that their embassies remained open.
Western leaders dismissed the Russian reaction to the U.S. missile decision as an attempt to deter Ukraine鈥檚 allies from providing further support to Kyiv, but the escalating after Ukraine fired ATACMS missiles at a target inside Russia.
Western and Ukrainian officials say Russia been stockpiling powerful long-range missiles, possibly in an upcoming effort to crush the Ukrainian power grid as winter approaches.
Military analysts say the U.S. decision on the range over which American-made missiles can be used isn't expected to be a game-changer, but it could help weaken the Russian war effort, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank.
鈥淯krainian long-range strikes against military objects within Russia鈥檚 rear are crucial for degrading Russian military capabilities throughout the theater," it said.
Meanwhile, North Korea to Russia, according to South Korea. It said that North Korean soldiers were assigned to Russia鈥檚 marine and airborne forces units and some of them have already begun fighting alongside the Russians on the front lines.
Ukraine struck a factory in Russia鈥檚 Belgorod region that makes cargo drones for the armed forces in an overnight attack, according to Andrii Kovalenko, the head of the counter-disinformation branch of Ukraine鈥檚 Security Council.
He also claimed Ukraine hit an arsenal in Russia鈥檚 Novgorod region, near the town of Kotovo, located about 680 kilometers (420 miles) behind the Ukrainian border. The arsenal stored artillery ammunition and various types of missiles, he said.
It wasn't possible to independently verify the claims.
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Baldor and Lee reported from Washington. Associated Press reporters Tara Copp in Washington, Jill Lawless in London and Angela Charlton in Paris contributed to this report.
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Follow the AP鈥檚 coverage of the war at
Samya Kullab, Illia Novikov, Matthew Lee And Lolita C. Baldor, The Associated Press
