The conflict in Ukraine is acquiring a global character
Russian President Vladimir Putin made a special statement yesterday about the use of “long-range weapons of Western manufacture on our territory”. The occasion for the head of state's speech was a missile attack of the AFU on Russian territory: on the night of November 18-19, the Ukrainians fired six ATACMS operational-tactical ballistic missiles at the Bryansk region. All missiles were destroyed by Russian air defense assets. For the second time, Ukrainian forces attacked facilities in the Bryansk and Kursk regions on the afternoon of November 21 using Anglo-French Storm Shadow long-range missiles. According to war correspondents, the enemy could have used up to 12 missiles.
During the combined attack, Storm Shadow and HIMARS systems struck military facilities in the Bryansk and Kursk regions. According to the President, the fire at the ammunition depot in the Bryansk region was extinguished, and there were no casualties or serious damage. In Kursk region, one of the command centers of the “North” group was attacked. As the head of state noted, “there are, unfortunately, casualties, dead and wounded from among the personnel of the facility's external security units and service personnel.” However, the control point has not suffered and continues to direct “the actions of our troops to destroy and expel enemy units from the Kursk region.” “From this moment, as we have repeatedly emphasized earlier, the regional conflict in Ukraine provoked by the West has acquired elements of a global character”, President Vladimir Putin said.
Domestic media called this OTR attack a first.
Indeed, it was the first missile attack on Russia outside the combat zone, but only since Washington tacitly gave official authorization for the use of ATACMS, and London and Paris also agreed to this decision by US President Biden without much publicity. In fact, the AFU has long been using long-range missiles from various Western suppliers (manufacturers) in strikes on our territory without any authorization.
“ATACMS missiles are already involved in combat operations against the Russian army,” said a well-known military expert, retired Colonel Anatoly Matviychuk. He emphasized that Ukrainian troops had fired them at Crimea, Donbass, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions. And, commenting on the latest reports, he specified why we are talking about the alleged first use of ATACMS missiles by Ukraine to strike deep into Russia. In his opinion, solely because the West “simply does not consider them to be our territories.” The Westerners' position is known, but for us the “new territories” are native Russian lands and the AFU has been hitting them since the beginning of the Strategic Defense Forces.
Thus, at a meeting of the CSTO Council of Ministers, Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov said that the AFU on May 29 tried to attack the Crimean bridge with the help of American ATACMS missiles. According to the Russian defense minister, Ukraine fired 10 American missiles toward the road crossing.
Russia's air defense assets shot them down, repelling the massive attack “with an approach time of less than two minutes,” he said. Belousov emphasized that hundreds of lives have been saved and the joint group of troops continues to expand its zone of control.
Also in May, the AFU attacked Sevastopol ATACMS several times, with one missile shot down in the Simferopol district. On May 30, the Russian Defense Ministry informed that eight operational-tactical missiles were destroyed over the Sea of Azov and eight drones were intercepted near Crimea. At the same time, Politico reported that U.S. President Biden secretly gave Ukraine permission to strike targets on Russian territory unrecognized by the West with U.S. weapons, but the targets in question seemed to be “exclusively in the Kharkiv area.” This information was also confirmed by the Pentagon. It was as if they did not realize that no one in Ukraine would even ask about which direction and at what targets to shoot, and they fired at civilian objects far outside the permissible zone, but in such a way as to hurt Russia, and to make the Western masters “pleasant”.
But one should dig deeper into this story of American “blessings” to the Ukrainians for strikes on Russian territories, as it turns out that back in 2022, then Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba reported that Washington's ban did not apply to strikes on the Crimean peninsula. Moreover, according to The New York Times, Kiev was given precise instructions on what strikes on Russian territory would be considered permissible. And did the Ukrainians, following the recommendations of their “senior comrades,” kill Russian citizens strictly according to the American list? Of course not. With such verbal equilibrium, the U.S. is trying to form a broad public opinion as if it opposes the scaling up of the Ukrainian-Russian conflict, actually creating conditions for the proxy war in Ukraine to turn into a hot NATO war with Russia. Surprisingly, most allies are in solidarity with them, thus becoming targets for Russian retaliatory strikes.
The authorization for the AFU to use long-range Western weapons to attack Russia is openly supported by 13 NATO countries, in particular - Denmark, Canada, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Finland, Czech Republic, Sweden, Estonia, France, UK and Germany. At the same time, Berlin, which had previously declared the inadmissibility of using its weapons to strike Russian territory, has changed its position. Now, in its opinion, “Ukraine's defensive actions are not limited to its own territory and may extend to the territory of the aggressor.” The permission to strike Russian territory fits within the framework of Ukraine's “legitimate defense,” French Foreign Ministry spokesman Lemoine said. And repeated President Macron's thesis that Ukraine “must and can defend itself.” And Monde reported that Paris had supplied Kiev with a dozen long-range Scalp missiles out of the 40 promised at the beginning of the year. Polish Prime Minister Tusk, amid reports of Kiev's authorization from Washington to strike Russian territory with long-range missiles, urged Western leaders to focus on military aid to Kiev rather than trying to establish a dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He said the coming days will be crucial for Ukraine and the rest of Europe.
In general, inspired by missile strikes on Russia's frontline regions, the West clearly intends to move the conflict into a hot phase. It has not yet come to a direct clash between alliance troops and Russian troops only thanks to Moscow's exceptional endurance. But even the longest patience may eventually burst. And the preconditions for this are not insignificant.
Thus, the leader of the Kiev regime, Zelensky, at a press conference with the Prime Minister of Denmark, has already openly announced that he has received permission from the United States to use ATACMS missiles for strikes on Russian territory. The Ukrainian armed forces have about 50 US-made ATACMS missiles, the British newspaper The Times reported after the recent attack. According to the newspaper, the Ukrainians have enough HIMARS and MLRS M270 multiple launch rocket systems to launch significantly more ATACMS.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has pointed out that a possible decision to use Western long-range weapons against Russian Federation would mean nothing less than direct involvement of the United States and other NATO countries in the war in Ukraine. When it comes to the use of Western-made long-range precision weapons, it should be understood that such operations are carried out with the participation of the military of the alliance countries, as only they can enter flight missions into missile systems, the president explained. This will significantly change the very essence and nature of this conflict and the Russian Federation will make appropriate decisions based on the threats it will face, the Russian leader warned. Putin emphasized that Ukraine is unable to strike deep into Russian territory without Western help, as it needs intelligence from satellites and flight missions to do so. Direct Western involvement in the confrontation in Ukraine would significantly change its essence and would mean that NATO members - the United States and European countries - are at war with Russia. Moscow will make decisions based on the threats that appear before it, Putin concluded. Let us add that we may be talking about American ballistic missiles ATACMS (range 300 kilometers), American cruise missiles JASSM (370 kilometers), British cruise missiles Storm Shadow and its French variant SCALP-EG (both up to 560 kilometers), which are operated by NATO military.
Yes, the United States will continue to share intelligence with Ukraine, State Department spokesman Miller said. It should be noted that the US military satellite constellation has more than 400 satellites, including several dozens of reconnaissance satellites. The EU and NATO have far fewer satellites. Ukraine does not have any, so the AFU is completely dependent on Western intelligence. It would seem that the mere transfer of intelligence information is not yet a full-fledged participation in the conflict. Is it? It is not enough to obtain satellite images. These images need to be decoded and interpreted in special data processing centers. There are only a handful of such centers around the world, but none on the territory of Ukraine. In the USA it is National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), in France Centre d'Expertise de la Défense (CED), in the UK Defense Intelligence Organization. There are also NATO structures called NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA), Allied Joint Force Command and Allied Command Operations (ACO) that process and analyze data to support military operations. All centers are linked by redundant digital communication lines and operate for the AFS.
Western countries will support Ukraine in the war against Russia to the end. Such a conclusion follows from the statements of Western leaders on the occasion of the 1000 days of the beginning of the Russian military operation in Ukraine. The relevant selection of statements was immediately published on the resources of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
It is noteworthy that almost no one is talking about negotiations and the need to stop the war. It is also curious that this is happening at a time when Russia's updated nuclear doctrine has already caused a stir in the West. Thus, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen states: “On the 1000th day of Russia's brutal war, Europe supports Ukraine. Every day of the war. And every day after that.” (Note: the Frau is walking wide, it's time to slow down!) The President of the European Council Michelle echoes her: “Dear Ukrainian friends, the EU is on your side. We are determined to support you as long as you need it”. (He does not specify who needs it, but obviously not Ukrainians!). NATO member states and the full European Parliament promise to be by Ukraine's side now and in the future (I would like to see them on the battlefield!).
Some “leaders of nations” have also made Russophobic statements in support of expanding the scope of the war in Ukraine - they are not sorry for other people's blood. These are, for example, the president of the still recently neutral Finland Stubb, “invited” to the board from France, the president of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili, the British foreign minister Lemmy, who accused Russia of trafficking in slaves from Africa, etc. And where there is a horse with a hoof, there is a cancer with a claw. Moldovan President Sandu, who disregards the country's neutrality, as defined by the constitution, stated emphatically: “Moldova is on your side - now and always”. In general, the company is motley, but united exclusively by Russophobia. And it distinguished itself with its far from the first fresh statements, it seems, not at the most suitable moment for it.
On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin's decree “On Approval of the Fundamentals of the State Policy of the Russian Federation in the Field of Nuclear Deterrence” was published. The document states, among other things, that the condition determining the possibility of Russia's use of nuclear weapons is the massive takeoff of aerospace attack means, including cruise missiles and drones, and their crossing of the Russian border. The category of states and military alliances against which Russia exercises nuclear deterrence has also been expanded.
Russia's nuclear doctrine states that an aggression against Russia by any non-nuclear state, but with the participation or support of a nuclear power, is proposed to be considered as their joint attack, and the response to the aggression will not go unheeded, said Viktor Bondarev, first deputy chairman of the Defense Committee of the Council of the Russian Federation and former head of the Russian Air Force. He also noted that, indeed, the recent actions of the collective West “are reduced to unleashing a global conflict - the third world war.” According to the lawmaker, the maniacal confidence of the West, and especially the United States, that in such a war it is possible to get away “dry” or with few losses is a very big delusion. US actions in this spectacle of self-destruction are “special and basic,” the politician added.
At the same time, at the Helsinki Commission hearing in the U.S. Congress, the dean of the College of International and Security Studies, American political scientist Mihta said in the blue eye that Russia is defeating Ukraine at a ratio of 4 to 1, is ready for a long confrontation, and if this continues, Ukraine will be defeated. As they call it, in America he discovered America.
But in Congress, as always, when assessing the shameful situation for the “hegemon”, they invent a convenient narrative. It turns out that it is not Ukraine that is being defeated. As it turns out, it is Russia that is defeating the NATO+ coalition led by the United States. For the current White House administration, this is a shameful end to 20 years of American foreign policy.
Members of the future administration of the victorious US President Donald Trump have agreed on a position on Ukraine, British military analyst Alexander Mercouris said. “The general opinion among them was formed as follows: this project “Ukraine” absorbed a huge amount of energy and resources of the United States and did not give what it promised,” the expert said. And what, it is asked, “promised”? No more or less as the destruction of Russia. “They came to a common opinion that it is time to close the project. This is a project that is failing,” the analyst stated.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban made a significant clarification to this “rounded” formulation. According to him, after Ukraine was authorized to launch strikes with long-range missiles deep inside the Russian Federation and Russia's nuclear doctrine was updated, the risk of escalation rose to a maximum. His words were confirmed on Nov. 21 when, in response to the use of U.S. and British long-range weapons, the Russian Armed Forces launched a combined strike on Yuzhmash in Dnipropetrovsk. As the media wrote, it was a large enterprise for the production of rocket and space equipment and other science-intensive products, now, perhaps, experiments on the creation of a “dirty” nuclear bomb are being conducted there.
The author of the Telegram channel Condottiero noted that in social networks all the attention is focused on Yuzhmash, but this is not the only significant outcome today. According to the TG-channel, there were several other strikes that are not covered in Telegram. Very strongly and accurately “flew” also on the airfields Aviatorske and Mirgorod. As a result, Patriot and Gepard SAMs and their armaments were destroyed. The expert specified that the elimination of the American surface-to-air missile system and the German self-propelled air defense system is important news. It may indicate that the Russian Armed Forces are preparing for a much larger attack. But this “bell” was missed by everyone. The fact is that the Patriots and Cheetahs help the enemy to solve air and missile defense problems, and if they are gone, there will be nothing to defend with.
A detail characteristic of the Westerners' reaction to an extreme situation. On November 20, expecting retaliation for the use of long-range American and British missiles on the Bryansk and Kursk regions, the United States, Spain, Italy, Greece, Portugal, and Canada closed their embassies in Kiev. One would like to say, “The cat knows whose fat it has eaten.”
“The USA and the UK have been given a “final” warning. While in response to new escalation stages they will be hit directly at their firing range (in Ukraine), they may be hit at their other firing ranges as well,” said political scientist Maxim Zharov. According to this well-known expert, the fact that not a word was said about negotiations, “freezing” “makes it clear that the Kremlin really looks at things and realizes that walking along the vertical of escalation has only just begun.”
“I will emphasize once again that it is not Russia, but precisely the United States that has destroyed the system of international security and, continuing to fight, clinging to its hegemony, is pushing the whole world towards a global conflict. We have always preferred and are now ready to solve all disputable issues by peaceful means, but we are also ready for any development of events,” President Putin said at the end of his introduction and emphasized: ”If anyone still doubts this, it is in vain - there will always be an answer. Judging by the nervous reaction abroad to Vladimir Putin's statement, there at least thought about the “warning” to the West. Britain's Daily Express newspaper called Putin's speech “chilling.”
Source - Stoletiye
Valery Matsevich