Moscow signaled to the West that it was ready for a nuclear confrontation after Ukraine was given permission to strike Russian territory – and appeared to be quick to act on that green light – using US-made long-range missiles.
Kyiv appeared to be wasting little time after it was reportedly authorized by Washington on Sunday to use US-made ATACMS missiles against certain targets. Ukrainian media reported early Tuesday that the missile was used to attack Russian military facilities in the Bryansk border region.
Russia later confirmed the attack, with the Ministry of Defense saying that Ukrainian forces had “hit a facility in (the) Bryansk region” using six American-made ATACMS ballistic missiles. The ministry claimed the air defense missile system had shot down five missiles, and destroyed another.
“The fragments fell in the technical area of ​​the military facility in the Bryansk region, causing a fire that was quickly extinguished. There were no casualties or damage,” the ministry said.
CNBC could not verify the report and Ukraine’s leadership has not commented on the attack.
News outlet Kyiv Post cited national security officials as confirming the attack in Bryansk had taken place, although they did not reveal the weapons used.
The Kremlin has repeatedly warned the West not to allow Ukraine to use long-range weapons to attack Russia directly. Moscow rose on Tuesday when Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree approving an updated nuclear doctrine, changing the parameters of when Russia can use nuclear weapons.
The updated document, which describes the conditions under which Russia can use nuclear weapons, now states that aggression against Russia by a non-nuclear state, if supported by nuclear power, will be considered a joint attack.
The doctrine also states that Russia can use nuclear weapons if there is a critical threat to its sovereignty and territorial integrity (and its ally, Belarus) and the launch of ballistic missiles against Russia will appear among the conditions that can guarantee it. response using nuclear weapons.
Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov was asked on Tuesday whether Russia would consider the use of American non-nuclear missiles by the Ukrainian military as an attack by a non-nuclear state with the support of a nuclear state.
“You will be able to read the paragraph yourself, but in general it also states that the Russian Federation has the right to use nuclear weapons in the event of aggression using conventional weapons against it or the Republic of Belarus, which creates a critical threat to its sovereignty or territorial integrity,” Peskov told reporters. .
“Aggression against the Russian Federation by a non-nuclear state with the participation or support of a nuclear state is considered a joint attack.”
bomb shelters
The Kremlin’s comments came a day after Russia’s state-run Civil Defense and Emergencies research institute, part of Russia’s Emergencies Ministry, said the mobile bomb shelter it was developing had gone into mass production for the first time in history.
The shelter, called the “KUB-M” unit, looks like a shipping container and provides 48-hour protection for people from a variety of threats, including “natural disasters and man-made accidents,” including “air shock waves and nuclear light radiation.” explosion,” the agency said Monday.
The unit can also protect against chemicals, fire and dangerous conventional weapons, the research institute said, adding that the main advantage of the KUB-M unit is its mobility. Each container can accommodate 54 people, he added, with additional capacity possible if more modules are installed.
The institution did not link the announcement to the development of the ATACMS missile, or the agreement on Russia’s updated nuclear doctrine, but the timing of the announcement does not appear to be a coincidence, another warning to the West that Russia is serious when it warns. of the possibility of a nuclear confrontation, and actively preparing for that possibility, despite repeatedly stating that it does not want a nuclear war with the enemy.
The high tension between Russia and Ukraine, and their allies in the West, comes as Russian forces look to make significant gains in eastern Ukraine, looking to seize as much territory as possible before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January.
It is expected that Trump will push Moscow and Kyiv into peace talks that will benefit Russia, forcing Ukraine to hand over occupied land to its neighbor as the price of peace, with Trump signaling that US military aid to Ukraine will end.
