Ukraine fires US-made long-range missiles at Russia for first time, Moscow says
Make us a preferred source
Make us a preferred source on Google
The news: Ukraine launched US-made longer-range missiles into Russia's Bryansk region for the first time in 1,000 days of war, news outlets reported citing Moscow officials, following President Biden’s recent authorisation of their use.
On the same day, Russian President Vladimir Putin lowered Russia’s threshold for the use of nuclear weapons in a long-planned update to its nuclear doctrine.
The numbers: The Russian Defense Ministry told media Ukraine fired six US Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) into its territory early in the morning. Russian air defences had intercepted five missiles and damaged one, which triggered a fire at an unspecified military facility but didn’t cause any damage or casualties, it said.
Ukrainian officials said they had hit a military weapons depot in Bryansk but did not specify what weapons were used to strike it, The Associated Press reported.
Videos circulated on Telegram showed a military facility in flames and a smoke trail in the sky above it.
The context: The strikes come on the 1,000th day of the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine and two days after the Biden administration reportedly lifted restrictions on the use of the ATACMS to support Ukraine’s fight against Russia – joined by tens of thousands of North Korean troops – in the Kursk region.
That authorisation came just two months before the return of President-elect Donald Trump to the White House, who has criticised the extent of US support for Ukraine and promised to end the war in Ukraine, without saying how.
Also on Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to update the country’s nuclear doctrine, lowering the threshold for nuclear response to include conventional attacks involving nuclear-backed nations.
Russia has recently intensified its attacks on Ukrainian territory, including strikes on residential areas in Sumy that killed 11 and wounded 89 on Monday, as well as a missile barrage in Odesa on Sunday, resulting in at least 10 deaths and 43 injuries.
Putin has previously said the use of advanced Western weapons to attack mainland Russia would mean NATO countries were directly at war with Russia.
The involvement of North Korean troops supporting Russia has further escalated tensions as both sides brace for the approaching winter.
The sources: The New York Times , Reuters, The Financial Times, The Associated Press, CNN
