WASHINGTON  -  President Joe Biden’s administra­tion has lifted restrictions that had blocked Ukraine from using U.S.-pro­vided weapons to strike deep into Russian territory, said three sourc­es familiar with the matter, in a sig­nificant change to US policy in the Ukraine-Russia conflict. Ukraine plans to conduct its first long-range attacks in the coming days, the sourc­es said, without revealing details due to operational security concerns. The White House declined to comment.

The move by the United States, which comes just over two months before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20, comes after months of requests by Ukrainian Pres­ident Volodymyr Zelenskiy to allow Ukraine’s military to use U.S. weapons to hit Russian military targets far from its border. The change follows Russia’s deployment of North Korean ground troops to supplement its own forces, a development that has caused alarm in Washington and Kyiv. The first deep strikes are likely to be carried out us­ing ATACMS rockets, which have a range of up to 190 miles (306 km), ac­cording to the sources.

While some US officials have ex­pressed skepticism that allowing long-range strikes will change the war’s overall trajectory, the decision could help Ukraine at a moment when Russian forces are making gains and possibly put Kyiv in a better negoti­ating position when and if ceasefire talks happen. It is not clear if Trump will reverse Biden’s decision when he takes office. Trump has long criticized the scale of U.S. financial and military aid to Ukraine and has vowed to end the war quickly, without explaining how. Still, some congressional Re­publicans have urged Biden to loos­en the rules on how Ukraine can use US.-provided weapons.