This article was reprinted with permission after being published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in a speech on November 19 that Ukraine used six U. S. supplied , ATACMS , weapons in its attack on the Bryansk area immediately, claiming Russian troops managed to shoot down five of the weapons and harm another.
According to the government, bits from the broken ATACMS fell on a military destination, causing a fire that was immediately extinguished. The government also said there were no deaths.
According to a reliable source within the Ukrainian military, who had just been quoted as saying Kyiv had launched ATACMS missiles in the town of Karachev in the southwest of Russia’s Bryansk region for the first time, properly causing damage to the facility, according to the Russian RBK news agency.
Kyiv did not officially verify the information, but President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, when asked about them, said simply that “Ukraine has long-range features, including internally produced long-range drones…and now we have ATACMS as well”.
Unknown top Ukrainian official, who was cited by AFP, claimed the missile strike was “performed by ATACMS missiles.”
The timing of this activity, coinciding with the , 1, 000th day , of Russia’s war, carries symbolic pounds. By additionally demonstrating its ability to retaliate with precision and range, experts believe Ukraine is trying to shift the war’s proper foundation, showing that Russian-held territory is not immune to direct attacks.
Ukraine has been using drones to attack Russia for months, frequently with specific attacks. ATACMS, but, are more effective and faster and thus tougher to take down. The reported U. S. authority on ATACMS expands the kind and increases the number of Ukraine’s long-range choices.
The same day, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an , updated radioactive theory. If Russia is confronted with a standard weapon assault supported by a nuclear power, nuclear weapons could be used in this update.
The theory now includes problems with conventional weapons, drones, or other plane as possible causes for a nuclear response. Moreover, the entire coalition will view any hostility against Russia by a state that is allies with a nuclear power as aggression.
Ukrainians awoke on November 19 to the announcement of a second, potentially fatal drone attack by Russia on a home structure.
Russian authorities , said , that six people were killed, including one baby, in the first morning strike that hit a five-story building in the city of Hlukhiv, in Ukraine’s northern Sumy area.
Twelve people were injured, two of them babies, and one section of the building collapsed.
Authorities concerned that the victim matter might rise because of the presence of rescue workers at the scene.
Only two days earlier, Russian troops targeted an apartment building in the provincial capital, Sumy, killing 11 people, including two children, and injuring more than 50.
The Sumy area, which borders Russia, has been a regular target of artillery and drone strikes, with problems intensifying in recent months.
Local officials in Sumy have ordered the removal of 23 towns and villages, affecting around 6, 000 people, as the area remains under near-constant risk.
Despite reports from Ukrainian officials and independent media that claim the Russian Defense Ministry simply targets military installations, reports from nonmilitary infrastructure destruction and casualties reported by common civilian casualties.
Russia’s full-scale war, which began on February 24, 2022, has evolved into a protracted conflict with considerable costs on both edges.
For Ukraine, the conflict has meant widespread death, over 20, 000 human fatalities according to global estimates, and thousands displaced. For Russia, the issue has brought financial isolation, military costs, and growing internal opposition.
The use of ATACMS by Ukraine would represent both the development of its defense plan and the growing support from American friends, who have gradually provided more sophisticated weapons to counter Russian aggression.
It also raises concerns about the possibility of a second increase because Moscow may react more harshly to attacks on Russian land.
