Moscow signaled to the West that it was ready for a nuclear confrontation after Ukraine was given the go-ahead to use U.S.-made long-range missiles to attack Russian territory, appearing to quickly approve the action.
Kiev appears to have wasted no time after reports on Sunday that Washington approved Kyiv’s use of U.S.-made ATACMS missiles against specific targets. Ukrainian news media reports The missiles were used to attack Russian military installations in the Bryansk border area earlier on Tuesday.
Russia later confirmed the attack, with the Defense Ministry confirming that Ukrainian forces “attacked a facility in the Bryansk region” using six U.S.-made ballistic missiles. The Ministry of Defense claimed that the anti-aircraft missile system shot down five of the missiles and damaged another.
The Russian Defense Ministry said: “The fragments fell in the technical area of ​​a military installation in the Bryansk region, causing a fire, which was quickly extinguished. There were no casualties or property damage.”
CNBC could not independently verify the reports, and Ukrainian leaders have not commented on the attack.
“Kyiv Post” news media cited National security officials confirmed The attack in Bryansk had taken place, but he did not say what weapons were used.
The Kremlin has repeatedly warned the West not to allow Ukraine to use long-range weapons to directly attack Russia. Moscow upped the ante on Tuesday as President Vladimir Putin signed a decree endorsing its updated nuclear doctrine that changes the parameters for when Russia can use nuclear weapons.
The updated document, which outlines the conditions under which Russia can use nuclear weapons, now states that any aggression against Russia by non-nuclear powers would be considered a coordinated attack if supported by nuclear powers.
