Kremlin says any decision to use long-range missiles against Russia would lead to a ‘rise in tension’
The Kremlin said on Monday that if the US allowed Ukraine to use US-made weapons to strike far into Russia then it would lead to a rise in tension and deepen the involvement of the US in the conflict.
Speaking at his regular daily press briefing, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that there was no change in position from what Vladimir Putin had said in September. The Russian president had said he would consider strikes by US-made weapons on Russian soil as the direct involvement of Nato in the conflict.
In response to a question from Tass, Peskov said Russia was only aware of the apparent decision by the Joe Biden administration from reporting in western media.
Asked about recent overtures towards peace by Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Peskov said that any so-called “freezing” of the conflict along the existing frontline was unacceptable for the Russian Federation.
Key events
Vyacheslav Volodin, the chair of the State Duma in Russia, has said that the US allowing use of longer-range weapons by Ukraine would not change the situation on the battlefield, but it would serve to finally destroy Russia-US relations, Tass reports.
There is currently a ballistic missiles warning in effect in Ukraine’s Sumy region in the noerth-east of the country. The city of Sumy was struck overnight in an attack which killed at least eleven people. One of the victims of that attack has been named by local Ukrainian media as 9-year-old Ilya Doroshenko.
Hungary has sounded a dissenting note from broad European support of the US decision to allow Ukraine to utilise longer range weapons to strike inside Russia.
Foreign minister Peter Szijjarto has, Reuters reports, described it as “astonishingly dangerous” to allow Nato-supplied weapons to be used for long-range strikes.
Earlier this year Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán attracted criticism from EU and Nato allies after he travelled to Moscow to meet with Vladimir Putin in person in July.
The European Parliament described the visit as a “blatant violation of the EU’s Treaties and common foreign policy.”
We have been reporting today that Joe Biden’s decision to let Ukraine strike targets inside Russia with US-supplied long-range missiles has been met with ominous warnings from Moscow – but has been cautiously welcomed by some western allies.
Margus Tsahkna, the foreign minister of Estonia which is another Baltic country that fears a military threat from Russia, said easing restrictions on Ukraine was “a good thing.”
“We have been saying that from the beginning — that no restrictions must be put on the military support,” he said at a meeting of senior EU diplomats in Brussels. “And we need to understand that situation is more serious (than) it was even maybe like a couple of months ago.”
Estonia and the other Baltic States have increased their military spending to over 2% of the value of their economies after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, and Nato allies have raised their presence in those countries.
Death toll from Russian strike on Odesa rises to 10, with 43 people reported injured
In an earlier post, we reported that officials had said 8 people had been killed and 18 injured in a Russian attack on Odesa, Ukraine’s Black Sea port city.
Ukraine’s state emergency services now says that 10 people were killed in the attack and that 43 people were injured.
“According to preliminary information, 10 people were killed and 43 others were wounded, including four children,” the agency said on Telegram. The fatalities included at least seven police officers and a medic, according to the Kyiv Independent.
Ukraine’s air force said that Russia launched an Iskander-M ballistic missile, which was downed by air defences.
“Unfortunately, the downed missile fell into the residential sector of the city’s Prymorskyi district,” the air force wrote in a post on Telegram.
US officials say Joe Biden, the US president, has authorised the first use of American-supplied long-range missiles by Ukraine for strikes inside Russia.
The first strikes using Army Tactical Missile Systems (Atacms) rockets could come within days. My colleague Oliver Holmes has written this explainer on the capabilities of Atacms missiles and why they are so important to Ukraine:
Here is an extract from the piece:
Ukraine will now be able to strike targets inside Kursk with the missiles, where Kyiv holds more than 1,000 sq km of territory. The Atacms could target Russian weapons and ammunition depots, supply lines, and military bases, which would give relief to Ukrainian troops on the frontlines.
With Trump’s inauguration in January, the move might be a way to strengthen Ukraine’s hand militarily before it is forced into peace talks. It may also have a psychological impact, raising morale in Ukraine during a tough period.
Erdoğan to present Ukraine peace plan at G20 meeting – reports
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is to present a peace plan for Ukraine at the G20 summit, according to reports by Bloomberg.
The Turkish president’s plan reportedly consists of:
-
freezing the frontline as it is
-
Ukraine agreeing not to join Nato for at least ten years
-
supplying Ukraine with weapons to provide for its defence
-
placing international peacekeepers in a demilitarised buffer zone in the Donbas
Earlier, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov dismissed reports that Erdoğan was suggesting a freeze of the current tactical situation as a condition that would be “unacceptable” to the Russian Federation.
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday that he visited the eastern frontline town of Pokrovsk in Donetsk region.
A video posted by Zelenskyy showed him visiting troops defending the town from Russian forces, who are situated about 8km (5 miles) away.
In a message accompanying the video, Zelenskyy described the front there as “intense”, adding “Only thanks to the strength of the soldiers, the east is not completely occupied by Russia. The enemy receives a daily response. Thanks to the soldiers for their courage.”
The Kremlin has issued a photograph showing a meeting in Moscow today between president Vladimr Putin and Yevgeny Balitsky, who is the Moscow-installed governor in the Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region.
Zaporizhzhia is one of the region of Ukraine which Russia has claimed to annex but which it does not fully occupy.
Zelenskyy tells G20 leaders to take note of Russian strike on Odesa that has killed eight
President Zelenskyy has said that the leaders of the G20 group, currently meeting in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, should take note of a strike today by Russia on Odesa which has killed eight people.
In a message on his social media channels Zelenskyy appeared to also criticise German chancellor Olaf Scholz for his recent call with Vladimir Putin. Zelenskyy posted:
A ballistic missile strike by Russian terrorists in Odessa in a residential area. An apartment building, a university, and an administration building were damaged. As of now, it is known about eight dead people.
These are not random shots – they are indicative shots. After the calls and meetings with Putin, after all the false gossip in the media about the alleged [Russian] “refrain” from strikes, Russia shows what it is really interested in: only war.
And this signal should be heard in all parts of the world, from the halls where the members of the G20 meet, to all the capitals of the world.
The governor of Odesa region Oleh Kiper has also posted an update on the attack, saying the dead included “medics, policemen, and ordinary civilians.”
He said that 39 people were injured, including four children. 30 adults have been hospitalised, he said.
Germany reportedly supplying Ukraine with 4,000 strike drones
Kate Connolly
Kate Connolly is the Guardian’s Berlin correspondent
The German tabloid Bild is reporting on what it calls a “top secret” delivery to Ukraine of 4,000 strike drones, developed by the German artificial intelligence firm Helsing.
The company reportedly received the contract from the Ukraine defence ministry in September and the order has been paid for out of a German government fund.
The defence minister Boris Pistorius has confirmed the deliveries, saying he is happy that they’re taking place now, when they could not be more needed. He saw them being tested in May with his Ukrainian counterpart Rustem Umerov, during a trip to Kyiv.
Referred to as “mini Taureses” – after the long-range missiles which Germany is being urged to deliver but which chancellor Olaf Scholz is refusing to release citing fears for an escalation – the drones are AI-controlled and can apparently out-wit Russian GPS jamming capabilities.
Their hit quota is said to be higher than the manually-steered fighter drones and their range four times farther than the conventional kamikaze drones used by the Ukrainian army.
Kremlin says Biden is ‘fuelling fire’ of Ukraine conflict with missiles decision
Pjotr Sauer and Dan Sabbagh report on the Kremlin reaction earlier today
The Kremlin has said Joe Biden’s outgoing administration wants to escalate the conflict in Ukraine by allowing Kyiv to use long-range missiles for strikes inside Russia.
Several US outlets reported on Sunday that the Biden administration has decided to allow Ukraine to conduct strikes with US-made weapons deep into sovereign Russian territory.
“It is clear that the outgoing administration in Washington intends to take steps to continue to add fuel to the fire and to further inflame tensions around this conflict,” Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters on Monday.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, had long pushed for authorisation from Washington to use the powerful Army Tactical Missile System, known by its initials Atacms, to hit targets inside Russia.
Peskov said Putin had expressed Russia’s position clearly in September when the Russian leader warned that the move to let Kyiv use longer-range weapons against targets inside Russia would mean Nato would be directly “at war” with Moscow.
Without going into specifics, Putin said at the time Moscow would “take the appropriate decisions based on the threats that we will face”.
On Monday, Russian officials similarly pledged that Moscow would react to President Biden’s decision, though they did not elaborate on what that response might entail.
Read more from Pjotr Sauer and Dan Sabbagh here: Kremlin says Biden is ‘fuelling fire’ of Ukraine conflict with missiles decision
Germany is sticking with its decision not to provide long-range missiles to Ukraine, Reuters reports a German government spokesperson said on Monday.
Eight reported killed by Russian strike on Odesa
Posting to the Telegram app, the governer of Odesa region Oleh Kiper has reported eight people killed and 18 injured by a Russian attack. He said one child is among the victims, and four people are in serious condition. He stated there was “damaged civil infrastructure, in particular residential buildings.”
More details soon …
Polish President Andrzej Duda has said the US decision to allow Ukraine to use US-made missiles to strike targets inside Russia is a “potentially decisive moment”.
Reuters quotes him saying “This decision was very necessary. Russia sees that Ukraine enjoys strong support and that the west’s position is unyielding and determined. It’s a very important, potentially decisive moment in this war.”
Russian forces have taken control of the village of Novooleksiivka in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, Reuters reports, citing Russian media.
Russia’s ministry of defence has claimed this morning that two Ukrainian drones were destroyed over the Belgorod region. Earlier the governor of the region reported there were no known casualties from the incident.
Tass reports that a Russian court has sentenced two Ukrainian men in the Kherson region, which Russia partially occupies, to 12 years in prison for espionage. The pair were accused of contacting Ukrainian secret services and passing along details of Russian military positions.