Above photo: The Storm Shadow missile. Gary Dawson/Shutterstock.
The US closed its embassy in Kyiv citing ‘specific information of a potential significant air attack.’
Signaling the United States expects a Russian escalation.
Ukraine fired at least 10 British-provided Storm Shadow missiles into Russia’s Kursk Oblast, The Wall Street Journal and several other media outlets reported on Wednesday.
Ukraine has used the Storm Shadow missiles, which have a range of up to 155 miles, in strikes on Crimea, but Wednesday’s attack, which targeted the Kursk Oblast, marks the first time Ukrainian forces fired them into the Russian mainland, another major escalation of the proxy war. So far, Russia hasn’t confirmed the use of Storm Shadows.
The US and the UK reportedly authorized Ukraine’s use of the Storm Shadows in strikes on Russian territory after President Biden gave the green light for Ukraine to use the ATACMS, US-made missiles with a range of about 190 miles. Ukraine launched ATACMS into Russia for the first time on Tuesday.
Both the Storm Shadows and ATACMS require intelligence from Western countries for Ukraine to fire them, meaning the US and NATO are now directly supporting long-range strikes on Russian territory. Earlier this year, a German military leak revealed British soldiers are “on the ground” in Ukraine helping Ukrainian forces fire Storm Shadows.
Moscow has made clear that NATO-supported long-range strikes inside Russia risk nuclear war. On Tuesday, in response to Biden authorizing the ATACMS strikes, Russian President Vladimir Putin formally updated Russia’s nuclear doctrine, which now considers an attack by a non-nuclear armed state that’s supported by a nuclear-armed power as a joint attack.
The US said on Wednesday that it was closing down its embassy in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, citing “specific information of a potential significant air attack,” signaling Washington is expecting Russia to escalate in response to the long-range strikes. Several other countries, including Italy and Greece, followed the US lead and shuttered their embassies.
While the long-range strikes risk nuclear escalation, US officials have admitted the capability is not expected to alter the course of the war. Ukraine only has a limited supply of the ATACMS and Storm Shadows.
Russia has unveiled a new weapon system as a warning to Ukraine and the West.
Russia has apparently launched a single RS-26 Rubezh road mobile missile against a target in Dnipro, Ukraine (Dnipropetrovsk).
According to Ukrainian authorities, the missile struck an unnamed… pic.twitter.com/tlit5wGWkV— Scott Ritter (@RealScottRitter) November 21, 2024
US To Give Ukraine Widely Banned Anti-Personnel Mines, Breaking Its Own Policy.
The mines have been banned by 164 countries under the Ottawa Treaty.
The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it will be providing Ukraine with widely-banned anti-personnel mines, breaking its own policy that’s meant to prohibit the transfer of the indiscriminate weapons.
The provision of anti-personnel mines is the latest escalation from the Biden administration and comes after President Biden authorized Ukraine to launch long-range strikes on Russian territory using US missiles, which Ukrainian forces have already begun firing into Russia.
Anti-personnel mines, which are designed to kill or maim people, are banned by 164 countries under the Ottawa Treaty, but the US and Russia are not signatories. Ukraine has signed the treaty but has violated it by using anti-personnel mines in the conflict.
US officials justified supplying Ukraine with anti-personnel mines by pointing to Russia’s use of the weapon and by saying that individual Russian ground troops are leading the offensives in eastern Ukraine, not armored vehicles.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin also pointed to the fact that Ukraine already makes its own anti-personnel mines and claimed the US version is safer since they can self-detonate.
To provide the mines to Ukraine, President Biden has to violate his own policy that he implemented in 2022, which banned the transfer and use of US anti-personnel mines outside of the Korean Peninsula. The ban was initially an Obama-era policy, but it was reversed by the Trump administration in 2020.
Arms control groups, including the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), slammed the provision of the US mines to Ukraine. “The US must respect its own policy prohibiting landmine transfers,” the ICBL said. “As the world’s largest donor to mine clearance, spending millions annually to protect civilians, it’s inconceivable the US would facilitate laying new mines.”
The ICBL also called on Ukraine to stop violating the Ottawa Treaty. “Ukraine already faces years of demining due to Russian landmine use. Adding to this contamination would impact its own population for decades to come, ” the group said.
Since 2023, the US has been providing Ukraine with cluster bombs, another indiscriminate weapon that’s banned by over 100 countries. Cluster bombs spread small submunitions over a large area, many of which might not explode, making them a huge hazard for civilians who may come across them in the future.