Putin issues nuclear warning because Ukraine uses long-range missiles

On November 20, 2024By Pranco

WASHINGTON − Ukraine launched its first long-range attack US-supplied missiles on Tuesday. Later, Russian President Vladimir Putin lowered the bar on Russia’s use of nuclear weapons.

A US official confirmed on Tuesday that Ukraine had launched its first attacks with ATACMS missiles under a new policy approved by the Biden administration. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the use of the Army Tactical Missile System, which can strike targets nearly 200 miles away from the ground launch site.

Congress received advance notice that Biden was lifting the restrictions, a senior congressional aide said Tuesday.

The Ukrainian attack hit an arms depot near the city of Karachev in Russia’s Bryansk region, more than 70 miles from the Ukrainian border.

The Russian Defense Ministry said it intercepted five of the missiles and damaged one. According to Russian state media, falling debris from a rocket fell on a military site and set it on fire.

Meanwhile, in an apparent reference to the US policy shift, Putin updated Russia’s nuclear doctrine, saying Russia will consider using a nuclear weapon if the country or its ally Belarus faces aggression through “the use of conventional weapons that pose a critical threat to their sovereignty and (or) their territorial integrity.”

According to the new doctrine, Russia will also consider a conventional attack on it by a state without nuclear weapons, but supported by a nuclear force, as a ‘joint attack’.

Previously, doctrine dictated that Russia would only use nuclear weapons in response to a nuclear attack or a non-nuclear attack that threatened the state’s survival. Russia first issued the doctrine in 2020.

Putin’s threats to use a nuclear weapon in response to US and NATO support for Ukraine have escalated throughout the conflict, which is now in its thousandth day.

In late September, Putin said Ukraine would be allowed to carry out the long-range attacks represent a “red line” for the US and its allies, and Russia may consider using one of its estimated 5,580 nuclear weapons in response.

Biden has now granted Ukraine that permission, several media reported on Sunday, although the White House has yet to formally make the announcement.

Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Ukraine’s allies without confirming the policy change.

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‘There has been a lot of talk in the media today that we have received approval take relative actionshe said in a statement on Sunday. ‘But strikes are not carried out with words. These things are not announced. The missiles will speak for themselves.”

The US has already supplied Ukraine with long-range missiles, which can reach a range of up to 300 kilometers. But the Biden administration did not allow the Ukrainian military to use them to attack targets within Russia’s borders to avoid provoking a nuclear response from Russia, which has said it would involve the U.S. more directly in the war.

The rockets are expensive and in limited supply. The US will not “blow below our own level of readiness” by giving too much to Ukraine, Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said Monday.

Supporters of giving Ukraine long-range strikes say the missiles will help Kiev take out military targets further from the border, allowing Russia to launch air and ground strikes.

Critics fear this could escalate US involvement in the war and push Putin over the edge into using a nuclear weapon.

Contributors: Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY; Reuters

(This story has been updated to add a video.)