LONDON

It is “entirely legitimate” for Ukraine to hit military targets within Russia using Western-supplied weapons, a top British defense official said Tuesday.

Speaking on the BBC, Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said Ukrainian forces have every right to go after Russian supply lines and destroy them to hinder Moscow’s war effort and add more pressure on the Kremlin.

"Firstly, it's the Ukrainians who take the targeting decision, not the people who manufacture or export the kit in the first place,” he said.

“And secondly, it is entirely legitimate to go after military targets in the depth of your opponent to disrupt their logistics and supply lines.”

He added: "Just to be frank, providing the Russians' don't target civilians, which unfortunately they've not taken too much regard for thus far, it is perfectly legitimate for them to be striking targets in western Ukraine to disrupt Ukrainian supply lines. That is very much a part of war.”

Heappey’s comments could be used by the Kremlin to boost their claims of how big a threat NATO poses to Russian security. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday said that NATO is already engaged in a proxy war with Russia over its military support for Ukraine.

In a separate interview with Times Radio, Heappey voiced approval for UK support for Ukrainian attacks on military targets within Russia and that it wouldn’t necessarily be an issue that Ukrainian forces are using British and Western weaponry in doing so.

“In war, Ukraine needs to strike into its opponent's depth to attack its logistics lines, its fuel supplies, its ammunition depots, and that's part of it. I think it is certainly the case that things that the international community are now providing to Ukraine have the range to be used over the borders. But that's not necessarily a problem,” Heappey said.

"Ukraine is targeting what I would say are completely legitimate military targets to disrupt Russian logistics. And you know the fact is that they make those choices just as the Russians make the choices to indiscriminately bomb Ukrainian towns and cities,” he added, referring to alleged Russian bombing of civilian targets.

Since the outbreak of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, the UK has sent large quantities of military supplies to Ukrainian forces battling the Russians, including surface-to-air missiles, armored vehicles, and carriers and reconnaissance drones.