Russia warns of ‘new phase’ in war after Ukraine’s ATACMS missile strike
This handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Service shows Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky (R) awarding a Ukrainian serviceman of the 14th Separate Mechanized Brigade in Kupyansk, Kharkiv, Ukraine, Nov. 18, 2024. (AA Photo)
Russia declared on Tuesday that Ukraine’s use of U.S.-supplied ATACMS long-range missiles against its Bryansk region marked a “new phase of the Western war” against Moscow, vowing to respond accordingly.
Ukraine used the missiles to target a military facility in Russia’s Bryansk border region overnight, Moscow said, just days after Washington gave the green light for Kyiv to use the long-range weapons against Russian targets.
“This is, of course, a signal that they want to escalate,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking at a G20 press conference in Brazil, said of the strike.
“We will be taking this as a qualitatively new phase of the Western war against Russia. And we will react accordingly,” he added, accusing Washington of helping Kyiv operate the missiles.
Russia has long asserted that the Army Tactical Missile System, known by its initials ATACMS, is programmed by US specialists and requires guidance from American satellites.
Lavrov also urged the West to read a decree signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday that lowers the threshold for when Moscow can use nuclear weapons.
“I hope that they will read this doctrine… in its entirety,” Lavrov said.
