1000 days of war in Ukraine | Kyiv swears not to surrender, Moscow raises the specter of resorting to nuclear weapons

(Kyiv) Ukraine vowed on Tuesday, the thousandth day of the Russian invasion, to “never” submit to Russia, which has once again raised the specter of resorting to nuclear weapons and promised to win this war.

This symbolic step comes at a vital moment for Kyiv: its army is retreating on the battlefield, uncertainty weighs on the sustainability of American support with the return of Donald Trump to power in the United States in January, while Moscow is in position of strength.

The outgoing American administration of Joe Biden gave the Ukrainians a boost by finally authorizing them, after a year of procrastination, to strike Russian soil with American long-range missiles, a red line for Moscow.

President Vladimir Putin responded Tuesday, signing the decree formalizing his new nuclear doctrine which expands the possibility of using atomic weapons in the event of a “massive” air assault carried out by a non-nuclear country, but supported by a nuclear power. Clear references to Ukraine and the United States.

“It was necessary to adapt our foundations [de la doctrine nucléaire] to the current situation,” coldly noted Dmitri Peskov, spokesperson for the Russian presidency, also promising Moscow’s victory in Ukraine.

Moscow has accused Ukraine of having fired six long-range American ATACMS missiles during the night from Monday to Tuesday against a military site in the Russian border region of Bryansk.

“At 3:25 a.m., the enemy struck a site in the Bryansk region” with “ATACMS tactical missiles,” according to a statement from the Ministry of Defense, which ensures that five missiles were destroyed and another was damaged by Russian anti-aircraft defense.

A war that is becoming international

“The military operation will continue [jusqu’à la réalisation] set goals,” he said.

Putin called for the Ukrainian surrender, the annexation of the occupied Ukrainian territories to Russia, the “demilitarization” of Ukraine and the abandonment of Ukrainian ambitions to join NATO.

This new nuclear doctrine was announced, but its adoption came two days after the authorization for the use of American long-range missiles. Moscow also promised an “appropriate” response to such shots.

After nearly three years of conflict which has left tens or even hundreds of thousands dead in total, Kyiv does not intend to give in.

“Ukraine will never submit to the occupiers,” Ukrainian diplomacy underlined in a press release, judging that international security requires “the restoration of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine.”

The ministry recalls that Moscow took advantage of this war to build a military alliance with North Korea and Iran, “a global threat that destabilizes Europe, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.”

North Korea, according to Kyiv and the West, supplies Russia with missiles, munitions and now also at least 10,000 troops. Iran is accused of delivering attack drones and ballistic missiles.

“We need peace through force and not through appeasement,” Ukrainian diplomacy insisted in this context, referring to British attempts to avoid a war with Nazi Germany by making concessions, in vain. to Adolf Hitler.

But Ukraine has been retreating for several months on multiple sectors of the front in the face of a better-armed and more numerous Russian army.

In addition, Moscow is increasing its missile and drone strikes against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure, killing many civilians and regularly plunging Ukrainians into darkness and cold as winter approaches.

The Russian army again claimed Tuesday the conquest of a village, near Kurakhové, one of the sectors of the East where it is advancing the furthest. It is also at the gates of the cities of Pokrovsk (East) and Koupiansk (North-East).

“Pandora’s Box”

In addition, a Russian strike killed ten people during the night from Monday to Tuesday, including a child, in the Sumy region (North-East), according to a latest report. The day before, ten people were killed by a missile in Odessa (South).

At the same time, Donald Trump’s return to the White House in January leaves Ukraine and Europeans fearing that he will force Kyiv into concessions, offering a military and geopolitical victory to Vladimir Putin.

Ukraine, the future of transatlantic relations and European defense are also on the agenda on Tuesday at a meeting in Warsaw of the heads of diplomacy of six major European countries.

“There is great common concern about the security situation in Europe and above all the situation in Ukraine,” noted Kathrin Deschauer, spokesperson for German diplomacy.

But Germany, Ukraine’s second donor country after the United States, also aroused the anger of Kyiv, with Chancellor Olaf Scholz having called Mr. Putin in mid-November for the first time in two years.

The Ukrainian president accused the German leader of opening “Pandora’s box”.

Because if Mr. Zelensky wants the war to end in 2025 by “diplomatic means”, he considers that Kyiv needs more military means to inflict defeats on the Kremlin and approach negotiations from a position of strength.