Moscow (TDI): After blaming Ukraine for attempt to target Belgorod region using US-made ATACMS, Russia vowed on Saturday to retaliate the attack allegedly took place on January 3.
Last year, US President Joe Biden authorised Kyiv to use long-range weapons against Russia, in a move the Kremlin denounced as a grave escalation of the nearly three-year conflict, AFP reported.
“On January 3, an attempt was made from Ukrainian territory to launch a missile strike against the Belgorod region using US-made ATACMS operational-tactical missiles,” the Russian defence ministry stated.
“These actions by the Kyiv regime, which is supported by Western curators, will be met with retaliation,” it added, saying all the missiles were shot down.
According to AFP, the ministry said earlier that air defences downed eight ATACMS missiles in total, without saying when or where.
Russia and Kyiv
Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened last year to strike central Kyiv with a hypersonic ballistic missile if Ukraine continued hitting Russian territory with long-range Western weapons.
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US President-elect Donald Trump said in an interview last month he was “very vehemently” opposed to Ukraine using the arms, which he said were “escalating” the conflict.
Both Kyiv and Moscow have accused each other of fatal attacks on civilians since the year began.
A Russian strike on a village in Ukraine’s northeast Kharkiv region earlier today killed a 74-year-old man, regional governor Oleg Synegubov said.
Russia’s defence ministry said today it had captured the Ukrainian village of Nadiia, one of the few settlements in the eastern Lugansk region still under Kyiv’s control.
Also Read: Russia Rejects Western Peacekeepers in Ukraine
Moscow advanced by almost 4,000 square kilometres in Ukraine in 2024, according to an AFP analysis, as Kyiv’s army struggled with chronic manpower shortages and exhaustion.
The President-elect Donald Trump had vowed to end conflict in Ukraine but reports suggest that he may face difficulties in establishing peace in that part of the world.
