Ukraine fired 6 US-made longer-range missiles into Russia, Moscow says
Global News
The alleged developments marked a worrying new escalation in the conflict that has repeatedly ratcheted up international tensions.
Ukraine fired six American-supplied longer-range missiles at Russia’s Bryansk region, Moscow said Tuesday, in what would be Kyiv’s first use of the weapons inside Russia in 1,000 days of war.
The reported use of the Army Tactical Missile System, known as ATACMS, came as Russian President Vladimir Putin formally lowered the threshold for using nuclear weapons, opening the door to a potential nuclear response by Moscow to even a conventional attack by any nation supported by a nuclear power. That could include Ukrainian attacks backed by the U.S.
The developments marked a worrying new escalation in the conflict that has repeatedly ratcheted up international tensions. U.S. officials recently expressed dismay at Russia’s deployment of North Korean troops to help it fight Ukraine, while Moscow seethed when the Washington eased restrictions on the ATACMS in recent days.
The 1,000-day mark has magnified scrutiny of how the war is unfolding and how it might end, amid signs that a turning point may be coming with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump entering the White House in about two months’ time. Trump has pledged to swiftly end the war and has criticized the amount the U.S. has spent on supporting Ukraine.
Neither Russia nor Ukraine can sustain the war for a long time, analysts say, though Russia is able to keep going for longer due to its vaster resources.
Ukraine’s forces are under severe Russian pressure on the battlefield at places on the about 1,000-kilometre front line where its army is stretched thin. Ukrainian civilians, meanwhile, have repeatedly been clobbered by Russian drones and missiles.
On Tuesday, Ukraine claimed it hit a military weapons depot in Russia’s Bryansk in the middle of the night, though it didn’t specify what weapons it used. The Ukrainian General Staff said that multiple explosions and detonations were heard in the targeted area, around Karachev.
In a statement carried by Russian news agencies, the Russian Defense Ministry said the military shot down five ATACMS and damaged one more.