War in Ukraine: Atacms missiles from kyiv in Russia, nuclear threat, Macron calls Putin to reason… an update on the situation

Atacms missiles in Russia

Six American missiles were reportedly fired towards Russia during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday. Heavy accusations coming from the Kremlin, a few days after several allies of Ukraine spoke out in favor of this type of attack.

Moscow accused Ukraine on Tuesday of having attacked the Russian region of Bryansk during the night using six long-range American Atacms missiles, which Washington now authorizes kyiv to use on Russian territory, according to several sources interviewed by Reuters and other media outlets over the weekend.

The Ukrainian army said it had attacked a large munitions warehouse near the town of Karachev, about 110 km from the border with Ukraine, but did not specify the type of weapon used. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, cited by Russian news agencies, five missiles were intercepted, the sixth was damaged.

Debris from one of the projectiles fell on a military installation, causing a fire, the ministry added, without reporting any other damage or casualties.

Emmanuel Macron calls Russia to reason

French President Emmanuel Macron denounced Tuesday a posture “escalatory” of Russia in the war in Ukraine, calling “to reason” Vladimir Putin, who has expanded his possibilities of using nuclear weapons.

“I really want to call Russia to reason here. It has responsibilities as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council,” Mr Macron told journalists after a G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro. “Russia today is becoming a global destabilizing power,” he accused.

Concerns in Europe

Will the conflict in Ukraine spread? This is what Sweden seems to fear. The latter sent nearly five million brochures to its residents, calling on them to prepare for a potential conflict.

Although the terms Ukraine or Russia are not mentioned in the work, it is obvious that it refers to the conflict, which is of great concern to the country, especially since its integration into NATO in March 2024. Finland, a neighboring country, at the same time launched a website with similar preparation tips.

This booklet entitled “If the crisis or the war comes” (“In case of crisis or war”), sent by the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB), contains practical advice for dealing with situations such as war, terrorist attack or cyber attack, according to Europe 1.

A new doctrine on the use of nuclear weapons

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday approved a new nuclear doctrine expanding Russia's options for using atomic weapons, particularly if the country were to come under a conventional attack backed by a nuclear-armed state .

The head of the Kremlin unveiled this update of Russian nuclear doctrine last September, presenting it as a response to a possible green light from the West for Ukrainian strikes in Russia using their missiles. According to sources in Washington, this step was taken this weekend by the administration of President Joe Biden, which lifted restrictions until now preventing Ukraine from using missiles supplied by the United States to strike deep into Russian territory.

The updated doctrine, which outlines threats that could prompt Russian leaders to consider a nuclear strike, specifies that any aggression against Russia by a non-nuclear state, but with the participation or support of a nuclear state, will be considered a joint attack against the Russian Federation.

It also states that any aggression against Russia by a coalition member state would be considered by Moscow as aggression by the entire coalition. Moscow will examine the possibility of using nuclear weapons in the event of a massive attack using planes, missiles or drones, it is further indicated. This Tuesday marks 1,000 days of the war in Ukraine.