(Ken Silva, Headline USA) In September, Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly warned that if NATO allowed Ukraine to conduct long-range missile strikes in his country, that would mean the U.S. and Europe would be “at war with Russia.”
That’s apparently what the Biden administration, NATO and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy want.
Ukraine fired six U.S.-made ATACMS missiles at Russia’s Bryansk region, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday, days after U.S. President Joe Biden eased restrictions on Ukrainian use of American-made weapons in the war that has reached its 1,000-day milestone.
Ukraine claimed it hit a military weapons depot in 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 detonation were heard in the targeted area.
Luckily for those who don’t want the conflict to escalate further, damage from the early missile barrage appears to have been limited.
In a statement carried by Russian news agencies, the Russian Defense Ministry said the military shot down five Army Tactical Missile System, known as ATACMS, and damaged one more.
The fragments fell on the territory of an unspecified military facility, the ministry said. The falling debris sparked a fire, but didn’t inflict any damage or casualties, it said.
Neither side’s claims could be independently verified.
However, Russian Security Council official Dmitry Medvedev issued a more chilling following the attack.
“Russia reserves the right to retaliate with weapons of mass destruction against Kiev and key NATO facilities, wherever they may be located,” Medvedev said, according to Russia Today.
“This would amount to World War III,” he added.
While Medvedev is known for his hawkish statements, antiwar.com’s Dave DeCamp explained that he is on the same page as Putin.
“Putin has also made clear that US-supported long-range strikes in Russia risk nuclear war by ordering changes to Russia’s nuclear doctrine. Under the new doctrine, an attack on Russia by a non-nuclear armed state that was supported by a nuclear power will be considered a joint attack,” DeCamp wrote on Monday.
And sure enough, the New York Times reported a day later that Putin has indeed lowered his threshold for using nukes.
“The decree signed by Mr. Putin implemented a revised version of Russia’s nuclear doctrine that Mr. Putin described in televised remarks in September,” the Times reported.
“But the timing was clearly meant to send a message, coming just two days after the news that President Biden had authorized the use of U.S.-supplied long-range missiles by Ukraine for strikes inside Russia.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
