To end the war, US must let Ukraine bring the pain to the Russian homeland

As Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks Tuesday at the UN General Assembly, his country’s civilians and soldiers continue to take a pounding from Moscow’s missiles, drones and glide bombs.Three of the five Patriot air defense systems that Ukraine was promised at the NATO summit have yet to arrive — and Russia’s recent receipt of Iranian short-range ballistic missiles means the danger for Ukraine may soon grow.When Ukraine’s strike into Kursk Oblast gave it control over 1,200 square kilometers of Russian territory, Vladimir Putin responded by directing yet more pain against Zelensky’s civilian population. Russian efforts have destroyed more than nine gigawatts of the Ukrainian power supply, causing massive energy shortages that could prove tragic this coming winter.This week, Zelensky has promised to lay out a “peace plan” to end this brutal war in meetings with President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris and in a requested meeting with former President Donald Trump — the perfect time to enact a new strategy to bring the pain of the conflict to Russia itself.With most of the war’s devastation limited to Ukrainian soil, the Russian public has been largely insulated from the repeated attacks on critical infrastructure that Ukrainians have faced.That is, until recently, when Ukrainian drone attacks deep within Russian territory have destroyed over 10% of Russian oil-refining capability, numerous Russian warplanes and substantial Russian arms caches. The Harris-Biden administration continues to prohibit the use of US ATACMs on targets in Russia, and has barred Ukraine from using the UK’s Storm Shadow missiles, which have US components.Yet the best way to turn the tide and force a just end to the war is to give Ukraine’s leaders the capacity to attack remote Russian military targets and civilian power grids, especially Moscow’s power plant, which generates over one gigawatt of heat and electricity.Such missiles could also reach ...