Ukraine used U.S.-supplied Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) for the first time to strike a target inside Russia, targeting an ammunition depot in Bryansk Oblast early Tuesday morning.
According to Ukrainian and U.S. officials, the missile strike successfully destroyed the 67th GRAU Arsenal, a critical storage facility for Russian artillery and air defense munitions, located near the town of Karachev, approximately 70 miles from the Ukrainian border.
Andrii Kovalenko, a representative of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council said the operation targeted a facility housing artillery ammunition, anti-aircraft missiles, and guided aerial munitions. Videos from the scene showed a large fireball and a series of secondary explosions, indicating significant damage to the site.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense acknowledged the strike, reporting that six ATACMS missiles were launched, of which five were intercepted by Russian air defenses. The ministry claimed that the remaining missile caused a fire at the depot but reported no casualties or significant damage.
U.S. officials earlier confirmed that President Joe Biden recently approved the deployment of ATACMS for strikes inside Russian territory. These long-range missiles, capable of hitting targets up to 190 miles away, were previously restricted to use in Ukrainian-occupied areas, including Crimea.
The attack coincided with Russia’s formal update to its nuclear weapons doctrine, signed by President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday. The revised doctrine allows for nuclear responses to foreign ballistic missile strikes on Russian territory.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described the ATACMS strike as evidence of Western intent to escalate the conflict. However, U.S. officials dismissed the rhetoric, citing no indications of imminent nuclear action by Moscow.
