US President Joe Biden’s administration has lifted restrictions that had blocked Ukraine from using US-provided weapons to strike deep into Russian territory, said three sources familiar with the matter, in a significant change to US policy in the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

Ukraine plans to conduct its first long-range attacks in the coming days, the sources said, without revealing details due to operational security concerns.

The White House declined to comment.

The move by the United States, which comes just over two months before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20, comes after months of requests by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to allow Ukraine’s military to use US weapons to hit Russian military targets far from its border.

The change follows Russia’s deployment of North Korean ground troops to supplement its own forces, a development that has caused alarm in Washington and Kyiv.

The first deep strikes are likely to be carried out using ATACMS rockets, which have a range of up to 190 miles (306 km), according to the sources.

While some US officials have expressed skepticism that allowing long-range strikes will change the war’s overall trajectory, the decision could help Ukraine at a moment when Russian forces are making gains and possibly put Kyiv in a better negotiating position when and if ceasefire talks happen.

It is not clear if Trump will reverse Biden’s decision when he takes office. Trump has long criticized the scale of US financial and military aid to Ukraine and has vowed to end the war quickly, without explaining how.

Still, some congressional Republicans have urged Biden to loosen the rules on how Ukraine can use US-provided weapons.

Russia has warned that it would see a move to loosen the limits on Ukraine’s use of US weapons as a major escalation.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Singer Diljit Dosanjh tore into calls for not promoting alcohol in his songs, challenging authorities across the country to ban liquor. Addressing his audience at a concert in Ahmedabad last evening, he also said he would not sing songs on alcohol since Gujarat is a dry state.

His strong response came after the Telangana government directed him not to promote alcohol, drugs, and violence in his songs ahead of his Hyderabad concert. Mr Dosanjh, who is on Dil-Luminati India Tour, tweaked his songs ‘Lemonade’ and ‘5 Taara’ while performing in Hyderabad.

During his latest concert in Ahmedabad, he declared, “Even today I won’t sing any song about alcohol. It’s because Gujarat is a dry state.”

“If liquor is banned here, I am a fan of Gujarat government. I openly support Gujarat government for this. You close liquor shops across the country, I will stop singing songs on alcohol,” he added.

The singer further said that Bollywood has thousands of songs on alcohol whereas he has just a few.

“I have sung dozens of devotional songs. I released two devotional songs in the last 10 days. But no one is talking about that. Everyone on TV is only talking about ‘Patiala Peg’,” said Mr Dosanjh.

He said he will stop singing songs about alcohol if all states ban liquor.

“Let’s start a movement. If all states declare themselves as dry state, from the next day, Diljit Dosanjh will stop singing songs on alcohol at live concerts. I have another offer. Declare dry day for a day in whichever city I perform, I won’t sing songs about alcohol,” said the singer.

Government is preparing to permit complete foreign ownership of insurance businesses, potentially attracting major international players. The proposed legislation also empowers individual insurance agents to offer policies from multiple companies, removing the current restriction of representing only one life and one general insurer.