Russia promised on Tuesday an “appropriate” response to the attack on its territory carried out by kyiv with American ATACMS missiles, believing that the conflict was moving into “a new phase” and announcing that the possibilities of using nuclear weapons were thus enlarged.
On the 1000th day of the invasion of Ukraine, the head of Russian diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov, accused the Americans of having helped the Ukrainian army in these strikes on the Russian border region of Bryansk.
They intervened after the green light from Washington to kyiv on Sunday to fire on Russian soil with these long-range missiles, which the Kremlin had presented as a red line.
In September, Vladimir Putin, who is demanding the surrender of Ukraine, warned that if this country fired on Russian territory with such Western missiles, it would mean that “the NATO countries are at war with Russia.”
The Russian president has not yet spoken publicly about Tuesday morning’s Ukrainian attack, which Moscow says targeted military installations.
– Ukrainian confirmation –
According to the Russian army’s account, “at 3:25 a.m., the enemy struck a site in the Bryansk region”, not far from the Ukrainian border, with “ATACMS tactical missiles”. Five projectiles were destroyed and another damaged by Russian anti-aircraft defense.
These strikes were confirmed to AFP by a Ukrainian official speaking on condition of anonymity, even if the head of state Volodymyr Zelensky simply said, at a press conference in kyiv, that his country had these missiles and was going to “use them”.
Mr. Lavrov, for his part, judged that such shots were “a signal” that Ukraine and the West “want escalation”.
“We will consider this as a new phase in the Western war against Russia and we will react accordingly,” he told the press on the sidelines of the G20 in Rio.
For him, these precise American missiles cannot be used by kyiv “without the help of American experts and instructors.”
Vladimir Putin has repeatedly raised the specter of the use of nuclear weapons since the start of the offensive in February 2022 against Ukraine, a country marked by the Chernobyl tragedy in 1986.
On Tuesday, the Russian president already responded to the American decision by signing the decree which formalizes Russia’s new nuclear doctrine: it expands the possibility of resorting to atomic weapons in the event of a “massive” attack by a country. non-nuclear but supported by a nuclear power. A clear reference to Ukraine and the United States.
“It was necessary to adapt our foundations (of the nuclear doctrine) to the current situation,” coldly defended Dmitri Peskov, his spokesperson, while Mr. Lavrov called on Westerners to “read the entire document.”
– “Never” submitted –
Ukraine has been demanding for many months to be able to strike military targets on Russian territory to disrupt the logistics of its army, now supported by thousands of North Korean soldiers.
Facing the Ukrainian Parliament, Volodymyr Zelensky estimated that the outcome would come in 2025.
“This stage will determine who wins,” he said, assuring that “Ukraine can defeat Russia”, even if “it is very difficult”.
But Mr. Zelensky acknowledged, for the first time, that Ukraine might have to wait until after Putin to “restore” its territorial integrity, with the Russians occupying nearly 20% of its area.
This is the first time that he has admitted that his country will “perhaps” have to accept, for a time, the loss of areas occupied by Russia.
Earlier, Ukrainian diplomacy had affirmed that Ukraine would “never” submit to Moscow, while the Kremlin affirmed, as usual, that its army would win.
On the ground, Russian forces are advancing on several sectors of the front, notably near Kurakhové (east), where they claimed the conquest of a new village on Tuesday.
– Linked destinies –
In addition, a Russian strike caused the death of ten people, including a child, in the Sumy region (north-east) during the night from Monday to Tuesday.
On the diplomatic level, the upcoming return of Donald Trump to the White House makes Ukraine fear that he will force kyiv into concessions.
In this context, Poland and other European states affirmed to be “ready to assume the burden of military and financial support” to kyiv, declared the head of Polish diplomacy Radoslaw Sikorski, after a meeting in Warsaw with several of his European counterparts.
However, they will have to find lasting common ground, as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called Vladimir Putin a few days ago for the first time in two years, provoking the anger of Volodymyr Zelensky.
Mr. Putin must not “achieve his goals,” NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte insisted on Tuesday.
The head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell, for his part, exclaimed: “the fate of the Ukrainians will determine the destiny of the European Union”.
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