The decision is at the heart of renewed tensions over the war in Ukraine. While the United States authorized kyiv's use of long-range missiles against Russia on Sunday, Moscow accused Ukraine on Tuesday of having struck its territory with American ATACMS missiles. A use confirmed this afternoon by a senior Ukrainian official to our colleagues at AFP.
If this is confirmed by kyiv, which has not reacted for the moment, it would be a first in 1,000 days of Russian invasion.
“At 3:25 a.m., the enemy struck a site in the Bryansk region”, not far from the Ukrainian border, with “ATACMS tactical missiles”, according to a press release from the Ministry of Defense, which specifies that military installations were targeted and which ensures that five missiles were destroyed and another damaged by Russian anti-aircraft defense.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Ukraine and the West of wanting to escalate the conflict, and that the strikes were being carried out “with the Americans”.
Ukraine has been demanding for many months to be able to strike “in depth” at military targets in Russian territory to disrupt the logistics of the Russian army which daily bombs its infrastructure and cities, causing the deaths of numerous civilians. ATACMS missiles have a maximum range of several hundred kilometers, allowing Ukraine to reach Russian army logistics sites and airfields from which its bombers take off.
Vladimir Putin, for his part, reacted on Tuesday by signing the decree formalizing his new nuclear doctrine which broadens the possibility of using atomic weapons in the event of a “massive” air assault by a non-nuclear country but supported by a nuclear power. Clear references to Ukraine and the United States.
An “option” for France
In September, Vladimir Putin warned that if Ukraine struck Russian territory with longer-range Western missiles, it would mean that “the NATO countries are at war with Russia.” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov estimated Monday morning that if Washington's decision was confirmed, it was likely to “pour fuel on the fire” in the conflict in Ukraine.
For its part, France has not closed the door: the use of its missiles on Russian soil remains an “option”, indicated Monday the Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot, upon his arrival in Brussels for a meeting of heads of diplomacy of the European Union. France has supplied medium-range Scalp-type surface-to-air missiles to Ukraine, but has always refused to indicate how many had been delivered and whether they had been used by Ukrainian forces.
VideoFrance reaffirms that the use of its missiles on Russian soil remains an “option”
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani assured him that Italy's position on the use of weapons by Ukraine “does not change, they can only be used inside Ukrainian territory.” he declared on Monday on the sidelines of the meeting in Brussels.
