Russia threatens Ukraine over US authorization of ATACMS strikes

Russian officials are threatening to prevent the United States from allowing Ukraine to use ATACMS missiles to strike Russian territory. Officials of the aggressor state claim that Russia will be forced to respond to these actions.

This was reported by analysts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) on Monday, November 18.

Authorization for strikes against Russia

According to ISW, Russian officials continue to resort to new threats to deter the United States from authorizing Ukraine to use ATACMS on Russian territory, namely in the Kursk region.

"Such a U.S. authorization, if officially confirmed, would be a mild response to Russia's escalation of North Korean troops as active combatants in the Russian invasion of Ukraine," the statement said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the United States was "adding fuel to the fire" and that allowing Ukraine to strike Russian military targets with ATACMS missiles would be a "new round of tension" and a qualitative change in American involvement in the war.

He also repeated the Russian dictator's statement of September 12 that Ukraine's strikes against Russia using Western weapons would mean an escalation and direct involvement of Western countries in the war.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Ukraine's long-range missile strikes on Russia would "radically change the essence and nature" of the war and that Russia's response would be "adequate and tangible".

"Russian officials claimed that Russia would be "forced" to respond to this "escalation," including by striking Ukraine with unspecified "new" weapons systems, and that Russia's new nuclear doctrine would outline the consequences of this decision," the analysts note.

Previously, as noted, Russia has not resorted to military escalation in response to any violations of Russia's "red lines" by the West.

"Some Russian officials and propagandists have emphasized that U.S. officials have not yet officially confirmed the authorization to strike with ATACMS missiles, likely in an effort to persuade the United States to reverse this decision and refute media reports that such an authorization has been granted," ISW reported.

Russian propagandist Vladimir Solovyov also questioned the veracity of the US media reports. Neither Ukrainian nor American officials, in turn, have confirmed the information about the relevant authorization.

As a reminder, U.S. President Joe Biden for the first time allowed Ukraine to strike Russia with long-range weapons. We are talking about ATACMS missiles.

France and the UK also allowed Ukraine to launch long-range strikes on Russian territory with SCALP/Storm Shadow missiles.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said that this was a decisive moment in the fight against the aggressor.