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After more than a year of lobbying by Ukraine, President Joe Biden in the final weeks of his term has approved Kyiv鈥檚 use of U.S. long-range missiles to hit inside Russia.

Ukraine reportedly began using the U.S. Army Tactical Missile System, known as ATACMS, Tuesday in a strike against a military facility on Russian soil, about 80 miles from the border.

It鈥檚 an effort to blunt a large-scale attack being prepared by Moscow, reportedly to eject Ukrainian forces from the Russian region of Kursk.

Some 11,000 North Korean troops have been moved into the area, Pentagon officials said Monday. They could be joined by an estimated 40,000 Russian forces.

Analysts are now debating what, exactly, long-range missiles launched into Russia will be able to accomplish at this point in the war, and whether it鈥檚 a dangerous escalation that could usher in 鈥渄rastic consequences,鈥� as Russia has warned.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in September that a U.S. green light for cross-border strikes 鈥渨ill mean that NATO countries 鈥� the United States and European countries 鈥� are at war with Russia.鈥� On Tuesday, the Kremlin changed its official doctrine to permit the use of nuclear weapons following a conventional attack, if the attacking country is backed by nuclear powers.

Yet it was Russia鈥檚 decision to bring North Korean forces into the war that represented a red-line escalation to which the Biden administration felt compelled to respond, U.S. officials have said.

It鈥檚 clear, too, that as President-elect Donald Trump鈥檚 victory portends stepped-up pressure on Ukraine to negotiate an end to the war, the move is also one last effort to give Kyiv more bargaining leverage when it comes to the table.

It is a move that Mr. Trump could use to his strategic advantage, as Russia, with an eye on positioning itself ahead of the U.S.鈥檚 Inauguration Day, is intensifying its own punishing attacks on Ukraine.

鈥淔or a Trump administration, this is actually a gift from the Biden administration,鈥� says retired Lt. Gen. Frederick 鈥淏en鈥� Hodges, former commander of U.S. Army forces in Europe. 鈥淭he Biden administration has made the hard decision, finally, to do this. Trump could just leave it in place as leverage.鈥�

How Ukraine can use ATACMS

Long-range ATACMS (pronounced 鈥渁ttack-鈥檈ms鈥�) can travel up to 190 miles. The strikes Tuesday were reportedly launched against a military facility near the city of Karachev in the Bryansk region.

The facility, which has come under Ukrainian drone attack in the past, was an arsenal for, among other weapons, North Korean artillery shells, anti-aircraft missiles, and ammunition for multiple launch rocket systems, according to a member of Ukraine鈥檚 defense council.

Russia鈥檚 big advantage in the war has been the number of its forces, which amounts to the tens of thousands of troops that it deploys in human attack waves. Some 1,200 Russian soldiers are killed or injured in the war each day, according to the Pentagon.

But these waves of largely untrained troops also represent an Achilles鈥� heel. They require Russia to use lots of artillery to wear down Ukrainian defenses before sending in the forces. These troops also need an engaged headquarters to direct and coordinate the artillery and the timing of attacks.

鈥淭here鈥檚 not a lot of decision-making going on at the lowest tactical level,鈥� Mr. Hodges says. Destroying headquarters and artillery supplies helps 鈥渘euter the advantage of mass鈥� that Moscow has, particularly now that it appears to have access to North Korean troops to send into its human waves.

And so the key is using ATACMS to help destroy strategic sites 鈥� 鈥渋n other words, where the Russians bring up artillery munitions and dump it in big piles by the side of a railroad somewhere, then it gets moved forward by truck,鈥� Mr. Hodges says. 鈥淥K, well when you find these kind of sites, that鈥檚 what you want to hit.鈥�

Though Russia has moved its airfields out of air range for the ATACMS, hundreds of artillery depots and headquarters remain reachable, the Institute for the Study of War think tank notes in an interactive map.

鈥淲e need to double down,鈥� Ukraine ally says

More broadly, Mr. Biden鈥檚 permission to use long-range missiles appears to provide political cover, too, for France and the United Kingdom to follow suit by officially authorizing Kyiv to use their own long-range Storm Shadow missiles in Russia.

鈥淚鈥檝e been really clear for a long time now, we need to double down,鈥� British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said at the G20 summit this week.

鈥淲e need to make sure Ukraine has what is necessary for as long as necessary, because we cannot allow Putin to win this war.鈥�

France鈥檚 foreign minister Jean-No毛l Barrot added that it was something his country 鈥渨ould consider if it was to allow Ukraine to strike targets from where Russians are currently aggressing Ukrainian territory.鈥�

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said he will still not allow Ukraine to use his country鈥檚 long-range Taurus missiles, but with national elections scheduled for February, Mr. Biden鈥檚 green light could allow the next chancellor to follow France and Britain鈥檚 lead.

Analysts have downplayed Russian threats, in part because the Kremlin has been complaining since June that the U.S. was allowing Ukraine to use the U.S. High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, inside Russia. Despite many veiled threats, including the change of doctrine this week, Mr. Putin is unlikely to use a tactical nuclear weapon, since that could jeopardize his hope for a good deal in any Ukraine negotiation once Mr. Trump takes office.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, for his part, has acknowledged the growing pressure to bring the war to an end.

His country 鈥渕ust do everything to ensure that the war ends next year through diplomatic means,鈥� he said Friday.