Moscow announced on Tuesday that Ukraine had fired six long-range missiles supplied by the United States into the Russian Bryansk region, in what would be Kiev’s first use of these weapons inside Russia since a thousand days of war.
The announced use of the Army’s tactical missile system, known as ATACMS, came as Russian President Vladimir Putin officially lowered the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons, opening the door to a possible nuclear response by Moscow even to a conventional attack by any country backed by a military force. Nuclear energy. This may include US-backed Ukrainian attacks
These developments represent a worrying new escalation in a conflict that has repeatedly escalated international tensions. US officials recently expressed dissatisfaction with Russia’s deployment of North Korean forces to help it fight Ukraine, while Moscow was angered when Washington eased restrictions on ATACMS missiles in recent days.
The 1,000-day mark has amplified scrutiny of how the war will develop and how it might end, amid signs that a turning point may be coming with US President-elect Donald Trump entering the White House in about two months. Trump pledged to end the war quickly and criticized the amount the United States spent on supporting Ukraine.
Analysts say that Russia and Ukraine cannot continue the war for long, although Russia is able to continue for much longer due to its vast resources.
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Ukrainian forces are under intense Russian pressure on the battlefield in places on the front line, which is about 1,000 kilometers long, where its army is weakly deployed. Meanwhile, Ukrainian civilians have repeatedly been bombed by Russian drones and missiles.
Ukraine announced on Tuesday that it had struck a military weapons depot in the Russian city of Bryansk at midnight, although it did not specify the weapons it used. The Ukrainian General Staff said several explosions and detonations were heard in the targeted area around Krachev.
In a statement reported by Russian news agencies, the Russian Defense Ministry said the military shot down five ATACMS systems and damaged one more.
The ministry said that the fragments fell on the territory of an unspecified military facility. She added that the falling debris led to a fire, but no damage or injuries occurred.
Neither side’s claims could be independently verified.
Karachiv is located approximately 115 kilometers from the Russian-Ukrainian border. During the war, Ukraine was able to reach deeper into the vast country, but using drones instead of missiles. For example, Russian officials have reported intercepting Ukrainian drones over Moscow, which is about 500 kilometers from the border, and more recently Izhevsk, a city about 1,450 kilometers from the border.
Earlier Tuesday, Ukrainian officials reported that a third Russian strike in as many days on a residential area in Ukraine killed at least 12 people, including a child.
The strike by a Shahed drone in the northern Sumy region late Monday hit a dormitory of an educational facility in the town of Hlokhev and wounded 11 others, including two children, authorities said, adding that more people may be trapped under the rubble.
On Sunday, a Russian ballistic missile equipped with cluster munitions fell on a residential area in Sumy, northern Ukraine, killing 11 people and wounding 84 others. A Russian missile attack on Monday sparked fires in apartments in the southern port of Odessa, killing at least 10 people and wounding 43 others.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the series of air strikes proved that Putin was not interested in ending the war.
“Every new attack by Russia only confirms Putin’s true intentions. He wants the war to continue. Talks about peace are not interesting to him. We have to force Russia to a just peace by force,” Zelensky said.
& Edition 2024 The Canadian Press
