Ukraine’s First-Ever ATACMS Strike in Russia

Ukraine launched a surprise offensive into Russia’s Kursk region, catching enemy forces off guard.
The shock invasion allowed Ukrainian forces to capture about 488 square miles of Russian territory.
Despite the wreckage left, Ukraine is making a point of helping civilians in occupied territories.

Ukrainian forces launched a bold offensive into Russian territory earlier this month, catching Russian forces off guard. On August 6, Ukraine’s military advanced into Russia’s western Kursk region in a cross-border incursion that has put Russian forces on the back foot in an effort to force them to redeploy soldiers from the grinding battles in Ukraine’s east. Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS, were fired during joint training between the United States and South Korea. South Korean Defense Ministry via Getty Images© South Korean Defense Ministry via Getty Images

Ukraine fired US-made ATACMS missiles at Russia, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.
It appears to mark the first time that Ukraine has used these powerful weapons on Russian soil.
The attack caused a fire at a military facility in Russia’s western Bryansk region.

Ukraine fired US-supplied ATACMS long-range missiles into Russia for the first time, according to multiple reports citing US and Ukrainian officials. The attack could mark a significant escalation in the war. The strikes came shortly after President Joe Biden authorized the use of the powerful missiles by Ukraine, a major change in long-held US policy. Russia’s defense ministry said five Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS, were shot down early Tuesday morning local time, adding that missile fragments caused a fire at a military facility in the country’s western Bryansk region. There were no injuries or substantial damage, Russia’s defense ministry said. Ukrainian media also reported on the strikes, with a defense source telling RBC-Ukraine that ATACMS had been used in a successful attack on a military facility in Bryansk. Ukraine’s military said that it “inflicted fire damage” at an arsenal in Bryansk, with 12 secondary explosions recorded. Kyiv said it destroyed Russian warehouses with ammunition, although it did not specify what weapon it used in the strikes. In recent months, Ukraine has relied heavily on domestically produced long-range attack drones to strike ammunition depots and other sensitive military targets inside Russia since it had been restricted from using Western missiles to do the job. Earlier on Tuesday, President Vladimir Putin approved an update to Russia’s nuclear doctrine, widening the scenarios in which it would consider a strike. The move seemed a direct response to US approval for Ukraine to use ATACMS in strikes on Russian territory. Russia has long warned the West against allowing Ukraine to use the weapons in attacks on its territory, and the Russian Foreign Ministry on Monday said any such strikes would result in “an appropriate and tangible” response.

Ukraine has used ATACMS, which have a maximum range of around 190 miles, as well as French and UK-made Storm Shadow cruise missiles in strikes on Russia-occupied territory in eastern Ukraine and on the Crimean peninsula. But until Tuesday, Ukraine had not used any of these long-range Western missiles to strike Russia itself.