Ukraine fires ATACMS, Russia ups hybrid war

Ukraine shot U.S.-provided long-range missiles for the first time and Russia threatened retaliation

Range of Ukraine's ATACMS inside Russia
Range of Ukraine's ATACMS inside Russia
(Image credit: Murat Usubali / Anadolu via Getty Images)

What happened

Ukraine fired U.S.-provided long-range missiles into Russia for the first time Tuesday, as Russian President Vladimir Putin officially lowered his country's threshold to use nuclear weapons. The U.S. and Europe said they were more concerned about Russia accelerating its hybrid warfare campaign against NATO countries.

Who said what

The U.S. said Ukraine fired seven or eight ATACMS missiles about 70 miles into Russia's Bryansk region early Tuesday, hitting an ammunition depot, and Russia shot down two. Ukraine said the missiles destroyed warehouses storing artillery shells, glide bombs and several kinds of missiles. Russia said it shot down five ATACMS and damaged a sixth.

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As Russia threatened retaliation for the U.S. ATACMS, European countries suggested Russia orchestrated the disabling of undersea data cables between Sweden and Lithuania on Sunday and Finland and Germany on Monday. Western officials said Russia also plotted to firebomb U.S.-bound airplanes, sabotage military installations and instigate arson attacks in Europe.

The foreign ministers of Germany, France, Poland, Italy, Spain and the U.K. Tuesday jointly condemned "Moscow's escalating hybrid activities against NATO and EU countries." The "likely motive" behind such sabotage is to "spread panic, bind security resources, and increase pressure on Western governments by boosting political parties who are campaigning against the massive aid provided to Ukraine," The Wall Street Journal said.

What next?

The U.S. mines should be "delivered soon," the BBC said. "Russia is attacking Ukrainian lines in the east with waves of troops, regardless of the casualties that they're suffering," one U.S. official said to The Washington Post. "These mines were made specifically to combat exactly this."

Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.