President Joe Biden authorizes Ukraine to launch American long-range missiles against military targets in Russia. Kiev will be able to use Atacms missiles, as requested for months by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky. The war, which is about to cross the 1000 day mark, is changing its face. Moscow immediately reacts to the news with threatening proclamations: “There will be a very serious escalation”.
Two months after his exit, with Donald Trump arriving at the White House amid promises of peace to be achieved quickly, Biden makes a decision that changes the framework of the conflict. The Ukrainian armed forces will be able to hit targets in Russia with missiles that have the ability to travel over 300 km.
Because Biden changed his mind
The Atacms can initially only be used in Kursk, the Russian region where thousands of North Korean soldiers have been deployed. The missiles are a clear message for Kim-Jong Un: Pyongyang’s military will be hit and wiped out, sending them to the theater of war was a ‘costly’ mistake in terms of losses.
The United States has denied authorization for the use of Atacms on Russian territory for about 2 years. Even in September, when Zelensky flew to the USA to illustrate his ‘Plan for Victory’, the approval from the White House did not arrive. Washington noted that not even the Atacms could have hit bases and facilities moved by Russia outside the Atacms’ range.
Zelensky: “The missiles will speak for themselves”
Now, the U-turn. Biden’s decision fits into a broader picture, if we take into account what Le Figaro reports: France and Great Britain have authorized Kiev to launch Scalp/Storm Shadow missiles against Russian targets.
And in this case there does not appear to be any specific recommendations to limit the use of missiles in Kursk. Ukraine is preparing to launch the first Atacms attacks soon: “The missiles will speak for themselves,” says Zelensky.
The Atacms probably won’t be a game changer in the conflict. However, Ukraine will be able to try to lighten the pressure in Kursk, where Russia is said to have massed 50 thousand men in preparation for an offensive, and manage resources in a different way also in Donetsk, where the push of the invaders has been constant for months and subjects the defenses against constant stress.
What Putin will do
The news bounces around Moscow and the first reactions arrive quickly. Leonid Slutsky, president of the Duma Foreign Affairs Committee, states that “US missile attacks against Russian regions will inevitably lead to a serious escalation that risks having extreme consequences. The Biden administration leaves Trump not only with the problem of resolving the Ukrainian crisis but also to avoid a global clash”, he says. Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry, simply points out that President Vladimir Putin has already expressed his opinion on the issue.
The Tass agency remembers the words of the leader, who about a month ago referred to “various options” to respond to a possible attack with long-range missiles. “Only NATO specialists can do this,” he added, referring to missile management. “This means that NATO – the US and European countries – are at war with Russia. And if that is the situation, we will make appropriate decisions in response to threats against us.”