Ukraine strikes mainland Russia for the first time with U.S. ATAXMS… Russian Ministry of National Defense: “6 missiles attacked the mainland, 5 missiles were intercepted” |

The Russian Ministry of Defense announced on the 19th (local time) that the Ukrainian military fired six long-range surface-to-surface missiles ‘ATACMS’ at mainland Russia. It has been two days since the U.S. government authorized Ukraine to attack the Russian mainland with Atams.

According to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced on this day, “At around 3:25 a.m., Ukrainian troops attacked a facility in the Bryansk region with six ATAMs.” The Ministry of National Defense reported that five out of six missiles were intercepted through air defense systems, and one missile was damaged. He also emphasized that missile debris fell on a military facility and caused a fire, but it was quickly extinguished and there were no casualties or other damage.

RBC-Ukraine, a local Ukrainian media outlet, also reported that the Ukrainian military attacked mainland Russia for the first time with ATACMS, citing a military source. The attack reportedly targeted military facilities in Karatsev, Russia’s Bryansk region, about 130 km from the Ukrainian border. The source said, “This is the first time ATAX has been used to actually attack Russian territory,” adding, “We attacked facilities in the Bryansk region and successfully hit them.”

The New York Times (NYT), citing a U.S. official, reported on the 17th that President Joe Biden has changed his current policy and approved Ukraine using ATACMS, which has a range of about 300 km, to strike targets in mainland Russia. President Biden has so far refused to allow Ukraine to attack the Russian mainland with ATACMS, but it is reported that he decided to change his strategy after confirming that North Korean troops were dispatched to Russia last month.

Russia immediately objected. Following the Kremlin’s warning on the 18th, President Vladimir Putin issued a statement on the 19th saying, ‘If a non-nuclear state attacks Russia with the support of a nuclear state, it may be considered a joint attack by the two countries and use nuclear weapons.’ Dam officially approved the new ‘nuclear doctrine (principle for the use of nuclear weapons)’. It is a threat that if the Russian mainland is actually attacked by ATACMS, which the United States, a nuclear-armed country, supported to Ukraine, a non-nuclear-weapon country, it may be regarded as a joint attack by the United States and Ukraine and a nuclear response may be taken.