The Russian military said Ukrainian forces attacked an airfield in Taganrog in southern Russia using US ATACMS missiles on Wednesday, promising “a response”.
“It has been established with certainty that six American-made ATACMS ballistic missiles were used,” said the Russian Defense Ministry, specifying that two had been “shot down” and “the others […] hijacked by electronic warfare equipment. The falling debris “injured personnel” at the military site and two buildings were notably “damaged”, without further details. The Ukrainian authorities, for the moment, have not claimed responsibility or commented on this alleged attack. Vladimir Putin presented Ukrainian attacks against Russian soil with Western weapons as a red line.
Green light from Washington and London
After obtaining the green light from Washington and London in November to attack Russia with American ATACMS and British Storm Shadow long-range missiles, kyiv has since carried out strikes on Russian soil using these precise weapons, which each time angered Moscow.
Despite threats from Vladimir Putin, these strikes continued in Russia on Wednesday, according to Moscow.
A Russian response in the coming days?
Following this announcement, an American official warned of the coming Russian response. Russia could strike Ukraine “in the coming days” with, once again, its latest generation Orechnik missile, supersonic and designed to carry nuclear warheads, he said on Wednesday.
“Russia has signaled its intention to fire a new experimental Orechnik missile at Ukraine, potentially in the coming days,” the official said on condition of anonymity. “But this missile is not likely to reverse the dynamic on the battlefield, it seeks to intimidate Ukraine and its allies,” added this American source. “The Orechnik, with its smaller warhead and limited availability, is unlikely to change the course of the conflict,” she said.
Another US official also sought to moderate the concern, saying that “Russia probably has only a handful of these experimental missiles.” The weapon, capable of striking targets several thousand kilometers away with nuclear warheads, was first used with conventional warheads on November 21 against the city of Dnipro in east-central Ukraine.
