{"id":582058,"date":"2025-11-20T07:18:16","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T07:18:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/582058\/"},"modified":"2025-11-20T07:18:16","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T07:18:16","slug":"ukraines-first-launch-of-advanced-weapon-into-russia-sparks-new-ww3-world-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/582058\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine’s first launch of ‘advanced weapon’ into Russia sparks new WW3 | World | News"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a significant escalation of the ongoing conflict, Ukraine has launched US-provided ATACMS missiles<\/a> into Russian territory this week – marking the first confirmed strikes of this nature. The move comes after Washington quietly granted Kyiv permission to use the long-range weapons for attacks across the border, as reported by both Ukrainian and Russian officials to the New York Times.<\/p>\n

Ukraine<\/a>‘s General Staff announced on Monday that it had deployed the precision-guided missiles<\/a> “against military targets on Russian territory,” describing the capability as a “significant development” that would be utilized in future operations.<\/p>\n

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the General Staff wrote, “The Armed Forces of Ukraine have successfully employed ATACMS tactical missile systems to deliver a precision strike on military targets on the territory of russia. This is a landmark event that underscores Ukraine’s unwavering commitment to its sovereignty.”<\/p>\n

Russia claims interception, retaliatory strikes<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to Russian officials, four ATACMS were fired toward the southern city of Voronezh on Tuesday, with all of them allegedly intercepted by S-400 and Pantsir air-defense systems, as stated in a Telegram post.<\/p>\n

The Kremlin further claimed that its forces destroyed two Ukrainian ATACMS launch vehicles in Kharkiv Oblast during retaliatory strikes using Iskander-M missiles – an assertion that could not be independently verified.<\/p>\n

While Ukraine did not provide additional details on the specific targets hit, it emphasized that the strikes were “precision” operations aimed at legitimate military infrastructure.<\/p>\n

US lifts restrictions on long-range missile use<\/strong><\/p>\n

The strikes come nearly a year after the US removed restrictions that had previously barred Ukraine from using American long-range missiles for attacks inside Russia<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Former President Joe Biden<\/a> had initially limited Kyiv to firing ATACMS only within Ukrainian territory, despite repeated requests for expanded latitude. The Trump administration had also intermittently slowed or blocked certain long-range strike requests, with reports indicating that Pentagon approval was required for cross-border missile operations.<\/p>\n

Kremlin warns of consequences<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Kremlin has repeatedly cautioned that the use of Western-provided long-range weapons on its territory would be considered direct Western involvement in the conflict.<\/p>\n

Ukraine, however, maintains that the strikes are necessary to target bases, airfields, and supply hubs launching attacks on Ukrainian cities.<\/p>\n

In recent weeks, Kyiv has successfully attacked Russian energy infrastructure using Ukrainian-made missiles. These strikes have amplified the impact of President Trump’s sanctions on Russia’s Rosneft and Lukoil oil companies, further straining Moscow’s economy.<\/p>\n

US remains silent, but shift in Ukraine’s strategy evident<\/strong><\/p>\n

While the US has not publicly confirmed the latest missile use, the development highlights a shift in Ukraine’s approach to the war – striking deeper, faster, and farther than at any point since Russia’s invasion began.<\/p>\n

With Ukraine’s military stating that the long-range capability will “continue,” it appears that more cross-border strikes are on the horizon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a significant escalation of the ongoing conflict, Ukraine has launched US-provided ATACMS missiles into Russian territory this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":582059,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[183946,748,393,4884,155972,12,1144,7661,712,7101,16,657,15,183947,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-582058","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-atacms-missiles","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-long-range-strikes","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-northern-ireland","15":"tag-russia-ukraine-war","16":"tag-scotland","17":"tag-strikes","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-ukraine","20":"tag-united-kingdom","21":"tag-us-russia-conflict","22":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115580810283435116","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=582058"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582058\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/582059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=582058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=582058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=582058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}