How the US and Ukraine may have worked to surprise Russia with ballistic missile strike: Strategic ambiguity

WASHINGTON — US intel suggesting President Biden only authorized the use of American-made long-range missiles for Ukraine to strike Russia’s Kursk region may have been a red herring — in an effort by Washington and Kyiv to catch Moscow by surprise, experts said.On Tuesday, Ukraine launched six ATACMS ballistic missiles into Russia’s Bryansk region, marking the first time the country has used the powerful weapons in 1,000 days of war, according to a US official.The strike, which hit an ammunition supply location in Karachev, came a day after widespread reports, citing US officials, claimed that Biden only OK’d the use of ATACMS — pronounced “attack ’ems” — to target Kursk, where Russia had deployed 50,000 Russian and North Korean troops.While there are several theories of what could have happened — from mistaken reports to a last-minute change of Biden’s heart — some experts say it may have been the result of what military officials call “strategic ambiguity” to surprise Moscow before it had time to limit the damage.By surprising Moscow with a strike in an area they were not expecting, Ukrainians would have gotten literally the best bang for its buck — as Russia would not have been as prepared as it could have been to counter the attack or move military equipment beyond the reach of the ballistic missiles, experts say.Still, much remains unknown as neither the US nor Ukraine had publicly acknowledged the ATACMS policy change as of Tuesday.It’s possible that the reports on the attacks being limited to Kursk were an intentional “misdirection,” Institute for the Study of War’s George Barros told The Post on Tuesday.“It’s either the policy was actually the more generous and more encompassing one … and perhaps it was just misreported in all the breaking news that came out the other day,” he said.“The other sort of circumstance is that we did this — and it would be crafty and the first time that we actually sort of got...