Ukraine 'fires US missiles into Russia for first time' as Putin relaxes rules around nuclear weapon use
19 November 2024, 12:51 | Updated: 19 November 2024, 13:33
Ukraine has carried out its first strike on Russian territory with US-supplied long-range missiles, it has been claimed.
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An explosion at an ammunition depot in Karachev, around 75 miles from the Ukrainian border in Russia's Bryansk region, lit up the night sky early this morning on what is the 1,000th day of war in Ukraine.
Russia's defence ministry has since said Ukraine hit the country with ATACMS missiles supplied by the US, Russian state media said on Tuesday.
Five missiles were shot down and one damaged, with fragments causing a sizeable fire at a military facility in the region, it said in a statement.
The military facility was located in Karachev, around 100 miles north of central Kursk.
It comes just days after the Biden administration gave Kyiv the green light despite fears it could escalate the conflict beyond control.
According to the TASS news agency: "At 03:25 Moscow time, the Ukrainian Armed Forces struck a target in the Bryansk region with six ATACMS ballistic missiles - Russian Ministry of Defense.
"Air defense systems shot down five ATACMS missiles over the Bryansk region, one was damaged - Russian Ministry of Defense.
"ATACMS fragments fell on the technical territory of a military facility in the Bryansk region, a fire broke out, it was extinguished - Ministry of Defense."
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On Tuesday it was reported that the Russian President signed a new doctrine lowering the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons should Ukraine use Western-supplied long-range missiles to strike targets inside Russia.
Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov said: “The Russian Federation reserves the right to use nuclear weapons in the event of aggression with the use of conventional weapons against it.”
The development means the Kremlin has now officially put nuclear retaliation on the table - in the form of the updated doctrine.
On Monday Moscow said any such attack would prompt an "appropriate and tangible response".
Joe Biden has reportedly authorised Ukraine to fire US long-rage missiles on to Russian targets.Russia has promised an "appropriate" response if Ukraine does choose to use long-range missiles to strike its territory.
Ukraine’s military had confirmed that it had struck an ammunition warehouse in the Russian region of Bryansk earlier in the day.
It did not specify, however, whether the ATACMS missiles were used.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy pledged on Tuesday that the UK's support to Ukraine will be "higher this financial year than in any previous financial year since the war began", as he made a statement marking 1,000 days since Russia's invasion.
He told MPs: "It has been 1,000 days. 1,000 days since Russia's full-scale invasion stunned the world. 1,000 days in which Ukrainian bravery has inspired the world, and 1,000 days whose horror and bloodshed have dismayed the world."
He added: "Ukrainians need not just words, but actions, and this Government has not wavered.
"We have stepped up support to Ukraine. We have ramped up the pressure on Russia and we've made it clear to the world just what is at stake.
"In our first week in office the Prime Minister confirmed that we would provide £3 billion a year in military aid this year, next year, and every year that it's needed.
"This includes the Defence Secretary's announcements today with more funding for Ukraine's Navy, more funding for drones, the extension of (Operation) Interflex, which has trained more than 50,000 Ukrainian troops to date and I have also increased non-military support.
"This financial year, we will give at least £250 million in bilateral assistance for work such as on protecting the Ukrainian power grid, which just this weekend suffered another Russian onslaught.
"Crucially, our bilateral support, both militarily and non military, will be higher this financial year than in any previous financial year since the war began."
