US officials confirmed that Ukraine attacked targets inside Russia using ATACMS missiles on Tuesday, according to multiple anonymous sources speaking to American outlets.
CNN reported that “Ukraine hit a Russian weapons arsenal with US-provided missiles that it used to strike across the border for the first time, according to two U.S. officials.” Similar reports appeared in NPR and The New York Times but no further details were provided.
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The strikes come after months of negotiations with US President Joe Biden over the use of the weapons inside Russian territory. He greenlit their use on Sunday.
Another of Putin's "red lines" found to exist only in the minds of western politicians.
— KyivPost (@KyivPost) November 19, 2024
Ukraine appears to now be hitting deep Russian targets with AmerIcan ATACMS.https://t.co/5qgAv8rrrN
US Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian Nichols said in an interview with the Brazilian news outlet O Globo that Ukraine’s use of long-range missiles could force Russia into entering peace talks.
President Volodymyr Zelensky did not confirm whether the strike on a weapons arsenal near Bryansk was carried out using an ATACMS missile. Still, he stated that Ukraine had long-range capabilities, and they would be used.
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Ukraine “will lose” its war against Russia if the United States cuts military funding to Kyiv, Zelensky told Fox News on Tuesday.
“If they cut, we will – I think we will lose,” Zelensky said in an interview with the US television network. “We will fight. We have our production, but it’s not enough to prevail. And I think it’s not enough to survive,” he continued.
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US President-elect Donald Trump is a vocal skeptic of the billions that the Biden administration has given to Ukraine since the Russian invasion began in 2022.
Trump has repeatedly promised to end the war quickly but has not provided details of how he would do so. This week his allies voiced vehement criticism of Biden’s decision to let Ukraine use US-supplied long-range missiles for attacks inside Russia, accusing him of a dangerous escalation.
Zelensky told Fox that “unity” between Ukraine and the United States was “most important.” Trump, he said, could influence Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war, “because he is much stronger than Putin.” The Kremlin “could be willing to end this war, but it also depends on the United States of America much more. Putin is weaker than the United States of America,” he said.
With Russia gaining ground and increasing talk of negotiations, Ukraine is wary of being disadvantaged when it comes to hashing out a peace settlement.
Kremlin now mass-producing “fallout” shelters
Russia has ramped up the production of radiation-resistant semi-mobile bomb shelters that the manufacturer says were built to withstand a variety of high-impact dangers.
The KUB-M shelters supposedly could withstand up to 48 hours of protection against natural and radiological hazards, according to Russia’s Emergency Ministry Research Institute as reported by Reuters.
Russian authorities claim a maximum of 54 people can fit inside the 28 sq. meter mobile shelters, which are built out of sand and concrete-reinforced shipping containers divided into two sections. The institute claims the modified SeaLand containers used by ships, trucks, and trains can withstand attacks from shrapnel, falling debris, fire, and other perils of war. Additionally, they are advertised as being airtight.
On Tuesday, a well-reasoned assessment of these shelters supported with accompanying photographic evidence by Defense Express, admittedly a partner of the Ukrainian Defense Industries (Ukroboronprom) State Corporation, casts some doubt on the seriousness of these bomb shelters.
In their report, Defense Express points out that “for some reason, the photos from the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations show the shelters in a fully assembled state are not entirely covered with the [allegedly radiation-resistent] concrete blocks. With such sizable gaps, a shelter cannot protect people from the shockwave, debris, or radiation.”
The Kremlin announcement comes just days after Biden permitted Ukraine to strike into Russian territory with US-made long-range missiles for the first time on Sunday. Moscow quickly responded to the announcement with new threats for the US and NATO, lowering the threshold for a nuclear strike.
“It's obvious that the outgoing administration in Washington intends... to continue fuelling the fire and provoke a further escalation of tensions,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday. “Kyiv's use of long-range missiles to attack our territory would represent the direct involvement of the United States and its satellites in hostilities against Russia,” the ministry said in a statement, vowing an “appropriate and palpable” response.
Ukraine announced on Tuesday that it had already launched its first attacks using American long-range weapons into Russian territory.
The change is reportedly in response to North Korea deploying troops to help Moscow’s war effort.
The change could affect other Western long-range weapons such as the British Storm Shadow cruise missiles whose usage requires Washington’s authorization as they utilize elements of US technology covered by Washington’s International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).
The news comes after a massive new Russian missile and drone attack on Ukrainian cities and energy infrastructure that has already been condemned today by the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the EU Chief Ursula von der Leyen.
"With the entry into the war of North Korea troops and (Sunday's) massive attack of Russian missiles, President Biden responded in a language that (Russian President) V. Putin understands," Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski posted on X.
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