Kyiv had long requested permission to use U.S. weapons to launch strikes deep into Russia before the Biden administration gave the go-ahead.

The Defense Department has withheld approval for attacks as the White House has sought to entice Moscow to open peace talks.

The Pentagon has been quietly blocking Ukraine from using U.S.-made long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) to strike targets inside Russia, limiting Kyiv's ability to employ these weapons in its defense against Moscow's invasion,

The ouster of Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse is latest in series of moves to purge the US intelligence community and install Trump loyalists in top positions.

The move comes weeks after the agency drafted a preliminary report contradicting President Trump’s contention that U.S. strikes had “obliterated” nuclear sites in Iran.

The head of the Pentagon's intelligence agency has been fired, a move the top Democratic lawmaker on the Senate intelligence committee on Friday slammed as the latest example of politicizing intelligence under President Donald Trump's administration.