Ukraine Strikes with U.S.-Backed Missiles, Prompting Predictable Putin Retaliation

Overnight, Ukraine used an ATACMS ballistic tactical missile to attack a Russian weapons depot. Forbes Ukraine and RBC Ukraine reported, citing anonymous sources, that the attack on the Karachev logistic center in Bryansk Oblast marked the first time ATACMS was used on Russian soil. It also took place just a day after Biden allowed US weapons to finally be used in strikes inside Russia. Karachev, located over 80 miles into Russia, was hit previously by Ukrainian drones.

 

 

Russian sources say that six ATACMS missiles were fired on Karachev. Five of them were allegedly shot down and the fires in the depot were started by the wreckage from the sixth, which was damaged. The video from the site shows a very different story.

 

 

Putin re-evaluated the Russian nuclear doctrine in response to Biden’s statement.

 

Two days after Joe Biden, the US counterpart, permitted Ukraine for American-made weapons to be used against targets in Russia that are deep within its borders.

 

According to the new doctrine, Moscow will view any aggression by a non-nuclear country that includes a nuclear state as a joint assault on Russia.

 

Russia has claimed that Ukraine launched ATACMS-made missiles in the Russian region of Bryansk. If confirmed, the attack would be the first time Ukraine has used such missiles since Biden’s approval.

 

The Russian government warned that US approval of the deal would lead to a dangerous escalation in the war now in Ukraine.

 

 

This announcement is almost identical to that of the nuclear doctrine change announced on September 25th.

 

President Vladimir Putin warned the West on Wednesday that any conventional attack by an ally nation on Russia, backed by nuclear power, will be viewed as a joint assault on his country.

 

The Russian nuclear arsenal could be used to attack Ukraine with weapons of greater range, as outlined in the revised nuclear doctrine of Moscow.

 

It’s what they do. It’s what they do every time Putin makes a veiled nuclear threat. This time is no different.

 

 

If this type of attack had been permitted since the beginning of the war, the conflict would likely be over by now. It was a stupid decision to allow Russia to use US-made weapons against military targets in Ukraine while denying Ukraine the right to use American weapons to attack those supporting Russia’s invasion. This did not prevent an escalation but simply increased both sides’ death toll. It increases the chance that President Trump will end this war in a manner that doesn’t resemble the Afghanistan fiasco and further damage US credibility.