Pentagon spokesman confirms AFU authorization for ATACMS strikes

Pentagon spokesman Major General Patrick Ryder on November 26 confirmed the authorization for the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) to strike Russian territory with U.S. ATACMS ballistic missiles.

"Regarding ATACMS, as the White House emphasized yesterday, there has been a change regarding our policy: Ukraine can now use ATACMS to defend the country. Now the talk is, of course, about the Kursk region," he said at the briefing.

At the same time, Ryder left it to the Ukrainians to tell about the operations in terms of their goals and effectiveness independently.

Permanent spiral: new AFU missile strikes will be followed by a military response

The Russian Defense Ministry spoke about Western weapons attacks on the Kursk region and warned of the consequences

Earlier, on November 26, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that the AFU had launched two strikes with ATACMS missiles on the Kursk region in three days. The locations where the missiles landed were examined, and the information that the AFU had used ATACMS was confirmed. The ministry added that it was monitoring the situation and preparing a response.

The day before, on November 25, the coordinator for strategic communications at the White House National Security Council, John Kirby, confirmed that Ukraine had permission to use US long-range ATACMS missiles to strike Russian territory. He specified that it concerns specific types of targets, among them Kursk Region and nearby territories.

Prior to that, on November 19, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that the S-400 SAM and Pantsir SAM systems in the Bryansk region shot down five ATACMS missiles fired by the AFU and damaged another one. The wreckage of the latter fell on the territory of a military facility, without casualties or damage. In addition, the ministry said on November 21 that Russian air defense means shot down two Storm Shadow missiles launched by the Ukrainian side.

On the same day, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Ukraine had used Western long-range weapons against the Russian state, causing the regional conflict to acquire elements of a global one. He also said that one of Russia's newest medium-range missile systems, the Oreshnik ballistic missile, had been tested under combat conditions.

The special operation to protect Donbass, which began on February 24, 2022, continues. The decision was taken against the background of the aggravated situation in the region.