Russia reported on Tuesday that it had been targeted again in recent days by two Ukrainian strikes carried out using American ATACMS missiles (Army TACtical Missile System), a weapon against which Moscow has promised a severe response.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Ukrainian forces struck “facilities” in Russia's border region of Kursk on November 23 near the village of Lotarevka, 37 km northwest of the city of Kursk, and on November 25 against the Kursk-Vostochny airfield.
The ministry recognized, a rare occurrence, that several missiles “hit their targets” and reported two Russian soldiers injured and a radar damaged in these Ukrainian shots. According to him, three ATACMS missiles, with a range of 300 km, out of the five fired were shot down by the Russian anti-aircraft defense during the attack of November 23 and seven projectiles out of eight fired during that of November 25.
“The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation is monitoring the situation and preparing a response,” he said in a statement, accompanying his message with photos appearing to show missile debris, the authenticity of which cannot be confirmed independently.
Russia prepares a response
“Examination of the attacked sites made it possible to confirm that the Ukrainian armed forces used American-made ATACMS operational-tactical missiles,” the Russian ministry said. He also said he was “preparing a response” to these attacks, which Russia considers to cross a red line.
A first Ukrainian attack using ATACAMS missiles took place on November 19 and on November 21, kyiv forces fired British-made Storm Shadow missiles at Russia.
Russia responded by firing an intermediate-range hypersonic ballistic missile on November 21 at a military factory in the city of Dnipro, in east-central Ukraine.
This experimental missile, called Orechnik and previously unknown, is designed to carry nuclear warheads, which was not the case during this attack. In response to Ukrainian strikes on Russian soil using Western missiles, Vladimir Putin promised to repeat this type of strike and threatened to target Western countries that help kyiv.
NATO and Ukraine meet in Brussels
In this very tense context, the ambassadors of NATO and Ukraine are meeting in Brussels on Tuesday. If kyiv said it expected “concrete” decisions from this meeting, Alliance diplomats were more cautious. Western ambassadors are expected to reaffirm their support for kyiv. The Kremlin, via its spokesperson Dmitri Peskov, brushed aside the scope of the meeting: “It is unlikely that important decisions will be taken at ambassadorial level.”
This renewed tension also comes at a time when Europeans and kyiv fear an end to American military support for Ukraine with the return of Donald Trump to the White House, and the conclusion of an agreement to the detriment of Ukraine.
The intensification of Russian attacks appears to be an attempt by Moscow to strengthen its position before possible negotiations. Russia also received reinforcements from thousands of North Korean soldiers who should, according to Washington, fight Ukrainian forces “soon”.
Military aid from Washington is crucial for Ukraine, whose exhausted army has been retreating for months against Russian troops, who are more numerous and better armed. On Tuesday, Russia claimed the capture of a new village, this time in the Kharkiv region (north-east).
