The Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed this Tuesday the first Ukrainian attack with ATACMS ballistic missiles American manufacturing in Russian territory. According to the official report, five of the missiles were intercepted, while a sixth hit a military installation in Bryansk without causing material damage or casualties.
Ukrainian military sources informed the digital media R.B.K. that this attack, carried out against a military infrastructure in the city of Karachevin Kursk, was successful. This would be the first confirmed use of ATACMS missiles by Ukraine to hit targets inside Russia.
The Ukrainian General Staff has previously highlighted a successful attack on a Russian military arsenal in Bryanskalthough he did not specify the type of weapons used. However, the use of ATACMS in this context suggests a change in Ukraine’s offensive capabilities in the war.
This attack coincides with US media reports that indicated that Washington allowed Ukraine to use these missiles against targets in regions such as Kursk, partially controlled by Ukrainian troops, and where Russia has deployed military reinforcements, including North Korean soldiers.
The Bryansk region, located north of Kursk and the target of the most recent attack, is strategic for Russia because of its military infrastructure, which Ukraine said included artillery ammunition, anti-aircraft missiles and other critical equipment.
The authorization to use ATACMS marks a significant shift in Western support for Ukraine. For months, kyiv had requested permission to attack targets on Russian territory with western missilesa request that its allies had until now rejected for fear of a direct escalation with Russia.
Russia, for its part, has warned that any attack on its territory with Western weapons will be considered a direct involvement of NATO in the conflictwhich increases international tensions.
The use of ATACMS missiles by Ukraine not only shows an expansion of its military capabilities, but also reinforces its strategy of taking the war beyond its borders, striking key infrastructures in Russia. This move underscores a shift in conflict dynamics, with far-reaching geopolitical implications.
Nuclear response to attacks
The Ukrainian strategy takes place after Putin has approved a new nuclear doctrine that allows the use of atomic weapons in response to conventional attacks that endanger Russian, as well as Belarusian, sovereignty. This regulation establishes that a conventional offensive considered a critical threat to the territorial integrity of these countries, which form the Russia-Belarus State Union, could trigger a nuclear response.
The document also expands the criteria for an atomic retaliation by considering “joint attack” the aggression by a non-nuclear country that receives support from a power with atomic capacity. Published on the official information portal of the Russian State, the new doctrine reinforces Moscow’s stance towards military alliances, such as NATO, by stating that any offensive action against Russia or its allies by a member of a coalition will be interpreted as an attack by the coalition as a whole.
Analysts interpret these provisions as a direct warning to the United States and NATO against a possible more active intervention in the conflict in Ukraine. The doctrine includes additional scenarios for the use of nuclear weapons, such as a “massive offensive” with aircraft, hypersonic missiles, drones and other unmanned devices that violate Russian airspace.
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