As the Russia-Ukraine war reached its 1,000th day, Kyiv launched U.S.-supplied ATACMS missiles into the Bryansk region. Russia's Defense Ministry confirmed the strike on Monday, just days after the Biden administration authorized Ukraine to deploy the long-range missiles against targets inside Russia.
On Sunday, Biden lifted the months-long restriction, which came at a pivotal stage in Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as Russian forces intensified offensives along the eastern front and unleashed missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian cities.
Russian officials said that Ukraine fired six ballistic missiles at a facility in Bryansk, adding that five of them had been shot down. No casualties or damages were reported in the incident. However, Ukraine is yet to confirm the strike.
Biden's move, which bolsters Ukraine's defense capabilities, was condemned by the Kremlin on Monday.
"It is obvious that the outgoing administration in Washington intends to take steps, and they have been talking about this, to continue adding fuel to the fire and provoking further escalation of tensions around this conflict," spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Meanwhile, thousands of North Korean troops have reportedly been deployed to Russia's Kursk region, raising concerns over Pyongyang's participation in Putin's war with Ukraine.
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller described the presence of North Korea as "a major escalation by Russia, bringing in an Asian military to a conflict inside Europe."
While Kyiv has frequently deployed Ukrainian-made drones to strike targets deep inside Russia, Moscow has consistently warned that the use of long-range Western weapons would represent a significant escalation.
On Tuesday, President Vladimir Putin revised Russia's nuclear doctrine, which now states that aggression by a non-nuclear state, if carried out with the involvement of a nuclear power, will be regarded as a joint attack on Russia.
