Washington approval allowing Ukraine to strike inside Russia with long-range missiles supplied by the US has triggered a furious response in Russia, according to the BBC.
The Russian government newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta is quoted as saying: “Departing US president Joe Biden… has taken one of the most provocative, uncalculated decisions of his administration, which risks catastrophic consequences.”
Russian MP Leonid Slutsky, head of the pro-Kremlin Liberal-Democratic Party, predicted that the decision would “inevitably lead to a serious escalation, threatening serious consequences”.
Russian senator Vladimir Dzhabarov called it “an unprecedented step towards World War Three”.
The Wall Street Journal suggests that the introduction of North Korean troops and the expected Kursk operation influenced Biden’s calculations.
Ukraine could initially target positions in the Kursk region, where Russia has amassed more than 50,000 troops, including some 10,000 North Korean soldiers.
The BBC reports that Ukraine has already been using the US long-range Army Tactical Missile System − ATACMS − to strike Russian targets in occupied Ukrainian territory for more than a year.
But the decision by President Biden will allow Kyiv to strike inside Russia itself, with missiles that have a range of some 300km.
According to the BBC, the supply of missiles will probably not be enough to turn the tide of the war, but the weapons may grant Ukraine some advantage at a time when Russian troops have been gaining ground in the country’s east, and morale is low.
It suggests that the US authorisation will also have a further knock-on effect: potentially enabling the UK and France to grant Ukraine permission to use their long-range Storm Shadow missiles inside Russia.
Strengthening Ukraine’s hand militarily could also potentially grant Ukraine leverage in any peace talks that may lie ahead.
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