WASHINGTON—The Trump administration has lifted a key restriction on Ukraine’s use of some long-range missiles provided by Western allies, enabling Kyiv to step up attacks on targets inside Russia and increase pressure on the Kremlin, U.S. officials said Wednesday.

Ukraine used a British-supplied Storm Shadow cruise missile on Tuesday to strike a Russian plant in Bryansk that produced explosives and rocket fuel, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces announced on social media. It called the strike a “successful hit” that penetrated Russian air defenses.

The unannounced U.S. move to enable Kyiv to use the missile in Russia comes after authority for supporting such attacks was recently transferred from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon to the top U.S. general in Europe, Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, who also serves as NATO commander.

The shift coincided with a push in early October by President Trump to pressure the Kremlin into talks on ending the war, including the possibility that he would approve sending Kyiv U.S.-made Tomahawk missiles, which have a range of more than 1,000 miles. Trump has since backed off that proposal.

However U.S. officials said they expect Ukraine to conduct more cross-border attacks using the Storm Shadow, which is launched from Ukrainian aircraft and can travel more than 180 miles. The U.S. can restrict Ukraine’s use of Storm Shadow because the missiles use American targeting data.

In a statement, a White House official said: “This is a war that never would have happened had President Trump been President, something [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin himself acknowledged, and President Trump is trying to get it stopped. The President also negotiated a historic agreement to allow NATO allies to purchase American-made weapons.”

The Pentagon didn’t respond to requests for comment. Ukraine’s General Staff didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.

Ukraine’s renewed use of Storm Shadows isn’t a game changer on the battlefield. They have a far shorter range than U.S. Tomahawks, and have been used to strike targets in Russia before. But the missiles do enable Kyiv to expand its attacks inside Russia.

Former President Joe Biden approved Ukraine’s use of Storm Shadow and U.S. missiles known as Atacms against targets inside Russia toward the end of his administration. But after Trump came into office, the Pentagon set up a review procedure for approving cross-border strikes using U.S. missiles or those from other countries, including Storm Shadow, that rely on U.S. targeting data.

Under the mechanism, the defense secretary had final say over whether Ukraine could employ Western long-range weapons to strike Russia. No attacks were approved until recently when authority for approving such attacks was returned to European Command, two U.S. officials said.

Ukraine is also carrying out attacks well inside Russia with domestically-produced drones and a small number of homegrown missiles. Many of the strikes have been directed against Russian oil refineries and energy infrastructure. The Wall Street Journal reported in September that Trump has approved sharing that targeting data , which notably includes oil refineries.

“As it has shown, Ukraine is incredibly capable itself of striking deep inside Russia at legitimate military targets that enable the Kremlin’s senseless war, which is straining its economy and has killed or injured more than a million Russians,” said Col. Martin O’Donnell, a NATO spokesman. “It does not need our permission.”

Trump last week expressed interest in holding a second summit with Putin in Budapest, Hungary, to discuss ending the war, but talks between the two governments quickly broke down. Trump on Tuesday said such a meeting would be a “waste of time.” NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte is scheduled to meet with Trump at the White House on Wednesday.

Sen. Angus King (I., Maine), who met with Rutte for an hour on Wednesday morning, said that while sending Tomahawks would strengthen Ukraine’s hand against Putin, the U.S. should be able to have a say over the targets Kyiv hits.

“If we could have some control over the targeting, that it was targeting only military facilities and only facilities supporting the assault on Ukraine, I think that it would be an effective part of convincing Putin that he’s not going to win this war,” King told reporters Wednesday.

The decision to lift the restriction on Storm Shadow occurred before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with Trump at the White House last week, according to a person with knowledge of the discussions. Zelensky was seeking Tomahawks, which would greatly expand Kyiv’s long range striking power if provided in sufficient numbers. Trump’s rebuff of the request has limited the West’s negotiating leverage with Moscow, analysts said.

The U.S. recently approved selling Ukraine 3,350 Extended Range Attack Munition air-launched missiles, or ERAMs, which can travel 150 to 280 miles. The Biden administration also provided Atacms surface-to-surface missiles, which have a range of nearly 200 miles, but which haven’t been used against targets inside Russia since Trump returned to the White House.

Ukraine has a small remaining stockpile of Atacms, which stands for Army Tactical Missile Systems. The Trump administration had not said whether it is willing to send more or whether the U.S. European Command will approve their use.

A joint statement from European leaders and Zelensky on Tuesday vowed to “ramp up the pressure on Russia’s economy and its defense industry” until Putin “is ready to make peace.”