Posted on 11/19/24
| News Source: FOX News
Moscow says Ukrainian forces have taken advantage of President Biden's green light and launched 6 U.S.-made ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile Systems) into Russian territory Tuesday.
Russia says it shot down five of the missiles and damaged the sixth. It added that debris landed in the area of a Russian military facility, but that no casualties or damage beyond a small fire. Fox News Digital confirmed the attack with a U.S. official.
Ukraine did not immediately confirm the use of ATACMS on Tuesday, but officials did announce an attack on a military facility in Russia's Bryansk region, the same region where Moscow says the missiles fell.
The attack came just two days after President Biden approved Ukraine to use American long-range missiles on Russian soil, an escalation that Russian President Putin previously indicated would be an act of war.
The US has approved Ukraine to use ATACMS on Russian soil. (John Hamilton/U.S. Army via AP, File)
According to a senior U.S. official, Biden's decision was spurred by the Russian decision to invite 10,000 North Korean soldiers into the fight against Ukraine in Kursk. A second official told Fox that it is unclear if Biden plans to approve the use of the missiles outside the Kursk region.
The announcement came after Great Britain and France authorized Ukraine to launch SCALP/Storm Shadow missile strikes, according to French outlet Le Figaro.
Putin has previously said that giving Ukraine the green light on missile use would effectively mean that the U.S. and NATO are "in the war."