Moscow threatens retaliation against countries that help Ukrainian forces use long-range weapons
▲ Ukrainian civilians take refuge in a Metro station because the air raid alarm sounded yesterday in kyiv.Photo Afp
Juan Pablo Duch
Correspondent
La Jornada Newspaper
Thursday, November 21, 2024, p. 20
Moscow. One day after the Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed the attack with US missiles Atacms against the Bryansk region, Ukraine launched British cruise rockets for the first time Storm Shadow against military targets in the Russian Kursk region, while the United States lifted the ban on supplying the Ukrainian army with antipersonnel mines.
The first news, widely disseminated by the Western media, is based on anonymous sources, since – they justify – the governments involved refuse to make official statements that confirm it.
It is not clear how many Storm Shadow launched the Ukrainian army; some media talk about 14 and others just say a barragebut they add that missiles were also used Scalp –the French equivalent of Storm–, It was also not reported which military targets were attacked, although everyone agrees that it was the Russian region of Kursk.
All this was presented in anticipation of a supposed significant airstrike of Russia against kyiv, which was expected yesterday, which forced the closure of the embassies of the United States, Italy, Spain and Greece as a preventive measure, while those of Great Britain, France and Germany, among others, which recommended to their nationals, remained open. do not go out on the street.
Ukrainian military intelligence described fake news that Russia had stored hundreds of missiles that it was preparing to launch against kyiv as punishment for using long-range Western weapons, speculation that has been circulating on Russian social networks since Tuesday. At least until 11:30 p.m. (kyiv time) no significant airstrike and in the afternoon the alarm system against air raids was activated only once in the Ukrainian capital.
In this context, the director of Russian foreign intelligence, Sergei Naryshkin, warned that there will be retaliation against countries that help Ukraine use its long-range weapons.
The attempts of some NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) countries to participate in long-range attacks on Russian territory will not go unpunished.Naryshkin told the magazine National Defensea warning that was reproduced in the main news agencies.
Regarding anti-personnel mines, the United States Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, confirmed it from Laos, where he is visiting, and attributed it to the fact that Russia has changed its combat tactics using infantry more and more.
Their mechanized forces are no longer in the lead. They advance on foot to be able to approach and take positions that open the way for the mechanized forces.Austin explained, adding that Ukrainian troops need resources to help stop the advances of the Russian army in eastern Ukraine, according to news agency reports.
The Kremlin believes that the United States and its allies are trying to prolong the war as long as they can.
If we take into account the trend shown by the outgoing administration of the United States, they are committed to prolonging the war and to achieve this they do everything possible in the time they have left (until mid-January of the following year).commented his spokesman, Dimitri Peskov, before Austin’s official confirmation was released.
The Russian official mentioned that it is a peculiar casesince Ukraine acceded to the Ottawa Treaty, as the convention that prohibits the manufacture, storage, use and transfer of anti-personnel mines is known. It should be remembered that neither Russia nor the United States have done so.
According to the Washington PostThe United States asked Ukraine to use these mines on its own territory and in combat zones where there is no civilian population. According to sources from the AFP news agency, the devices that Ukraine will receive will be not persistentThat is, they will have a self-destruct mechanism that will be activated when the programmed time of use has expired.