On November 19, the Russian Defense Ministry said that the Ukrainian army launched many US-made long-range ATACMS missiles into Russia's Bryansk province.
US President Joe Biden has reportedly given Ukraine permission to use US-supplied weapons to strike deep inside Russian territory. Moscow has previously said that long-range strikes by Western weapons would constitute a direct war between NATO and Russia.
According to the statement of the Russian Defense Ministry, Kiev fired 6 long-range ballistic missiles identified as ATACMS in the early morning of November 19.
Five of them were intercepted by S-400 and Pantsir air defense systems, while another was damaged and fell to the ground at a Russian military site in Bryansk Oblast, causing a fire that was quickly extinguished. The Russian military said there were no casualties as a result of the incident.
Ukrainian media earlier reported that Kiev had fired ATACMS missiles into Russian territory for the first time during the conflict. The attack was said to have targeted an ammunition depot in Bryansk Oblast, although military officials in Kiev have not confirmed the claims.
On November 18, Russian President Vladimir Putin approved the country's new nuclear doctrine. The document states that an attack on Russia by a non-nuclear power backed by a nuclear power will be considered a joint attack by both sides.
In September, President Putin warned that long-range strikes by Ukraine using Western weapons would be a serious escalation of the conflict. He noted that Kiev could not carry out such attacks without direct participation from NATO member states.
Bryansk Oblast is located in western Russia and borders Ukraine and Belarus - an ally of Russia.
