After a thousand days of conflict, the green light given by Washington to Kyiv to launch long-range AtacMS missiles into Russian territory allows the Ukrainian president to reaffirm his determination. As for Europe, it still has to translate its words into action.
It’s a catchy acronym, AtacMS. You could almost hear Joe Biden using it: attack themattack them. Less than 48 hours after the American president authorized the Ukrainian army to use these long-range missiles to strike Russia in depth, the first attack was launched on Tuesday. A salvo of six missiles on Russian territory, about 110 kilometers from the border with Ukraine, with limited tactical results – a large Russian munitions depot reportedly burned – but with spectacular effect. Volodymyr Zelensky took the opportunity to recall his country's determination to fight the Russian invasion, even on the thousandth day of war, a symbolic date which undoubtedly pushed him not to wait any longer. The AtacMS missiles (for “Army tactical missile system”) targeted a target close to the border, of course, but also surprisingly close (340 kilometers) to Moscow, in the Bryansk region. Always ready to brandish the fear of escalation, Vladimir Putin immediately updated the Russian doctrine on nuclear weapons, with a decree expanding the possibility of using them, while limiting himself to the threat of a response. “appropriate”. The only ones who seem to have been taken by surprise are European leaders. It is likely that the Ukrainian president was targeting them when he denounced the lack of reaction from the G20 leaders currently meeting in Brazil to the announcement by the master of the Kremlin. “Did they say anything? Nothing», he lamented in Kyiv, regretting an absence of “strong strategy”. France will soon have to decide whether it follows the American example by allowing Ukraine to use its own advanced cruise missiles against Russian territory, including the acronym Scalp (“Autonomous Long-Range Conventional Cruise System”). ), don't slam less. It was very easy to play cowboys and Indians, at a time when the wild west was not at the gates of Europe.
France
