Nicolas Tonev / Credit photo: Mikhail Metzel / SPUTNIK / AFP
06:15, November 20, 2024modified to
Joe Biden's authorization for the use of long-range American missiles to be fired on Russian territory by Ukraine has accelerated events. But could these missiles anger Putin to the point of using nuclear weapons?
1001st day of war between Ukraine and Russia. On the ground, Vladimir Putin continues his patient territorial nibbling in Donbass while bombing Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
In Washington, events accelerated with Joe Biden's authorization to use long-range American missiles to fire on Russian territory. On the Russian side, Putin shows his teeth with the expansion this Tuesday, by decree, of the doctrine, the use of nuclear weapons in the event of massive air attacks on his country. But are these missiles really formidable enough to trigger the ultimate wrath of Vladimir Putin?
Missiles with a range of 300 km
“Ukraine attacked Russian territory for the first time with ATACMS missiles, they targeted an ammunition warehouse in Bryansk,” Russian television announced on Tuesday. Moscow intercepted between five and six missiles. An ammunition depot was targeted and is located a little more than 130 km inside Russian territory. A type of attack that Ukraine has been waiting to carry out for months.
According to specialized institutes, there are more than 225 important targets including 16 Russian air bases that can be reached with missiles with a range of 300 km. The importance of the strikes and the damage they would cause which constitute the issue of the decree according to General Jean-Paul Palomeros.
“He has identified a particular circumstance of air strikes, of massive penetration. This means that it will remain within his discretion whether or not it is an attack on his vital interests,” he explains. Ukraine would have received a total of a thousand missiles from ATACMS and would have saved them for months to be able to use them with long-range authorization.
