JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Ukraine can now use Western weapons to fire into Russian territory but only from the northeastern border region near Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city. Russian forces bomb Kharkiv nearly every day, and the Ukrainians who live there say they hope they can now defend themselves. NPR's Joanna Kakissis reports.
JOANNA KAKISSIS, BYLINE: During a rare break from air raid sirens in Kharkiv, Anna Miroshnichenko relaxes with her friends in a downtown park. They have all heard the big news that the U.S. will allow Ukraine to fire Western weapons at Russian forces in Russia.
ANNA MIROSHNICHENKO: (Through interpreter) We are very pleased because we can now fire at and destroy their weapons. And then Kharkiv will not be shelled so often.
KAKISSIS: The U.S. took too long to make this change, she says, and there's been so much damage. Earlier this month, Russia launched a cross-border offensive outside Kharkiv. Thousands were forced to evacuate, including Miroshnichenko's mother and grandmother.
MIROSHNICHENKO: (Through interpreter) My mother would like to come back, but the town doesn't exist anymore. And honestly, it's unlikely that it will be rebuilt.
KAKISSIS: She says maybe the town could have been saved if the U.S, had acted sooner. She does not want to believe the United States could be afraid of Russia.
MIROSHNICHENKO: No. This is USA.
KAKISSIS: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had been pleading with the U.S. for weeks to lift the ban. During a state visit to Sweden on Friday, Zelenskyy welcomed the change.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY: This is some step forward to make possibility to defend our people who lived in the villages through the borderline.
KAKISSIS: It's also a way to defend Kharkiv, a city of more than a million people terrorized for weeks by Russian strikes. Late Thursday night, a missile hit an apartment building, killing five people. A distraught man looking for his wife screamed out her name. The strike happened near the home of Maria Aharkova, who is still in shock.
MARIA AHARKOVA: (Speaking Ukrainian).
KAKISSIS: "This is our city," she says, "and we're just doing our best to survive." Joanna Kakissis, NPR News, Kharkiv. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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