US President Joe Biden’s decision to authorize Ukraine’s use of US-supplied long-range missiles, including the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), has drawn sharp criticism from Moscow. The Kremlin, on Monday, called it a dangerous escalation that deepens the US involvement in the conflict, Politico reported.
“If such a decision was really made and conveyed to Kyiv, this represents a new round of tension and a significant shift in the United States’ role in this war,” Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Russian media.
The long-range missiles would allow Ukraine to strike targets at a depth of up to 300 kilometers in Russia, beyond the area of Kursk.
The move is a major change in US policy. The Biden Administration had previously resisted Ukraine’s repeated requests to use long-range missiles for strikes on Russian territory, Politico reported.
Now, with the green light reportedly given, the war’s geographic scope could expand, teetering global stability even closer to the edge.
Russian officials were quick to respond. Vladimir Dzhabarov, a top member of the Russian Senate, warned that the decision could trigger “the beginning of the third world war.” He promised swift retaliation from Moscow, heightening fears of broader conflict.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the reports. “Strikes are not carried out with words,” he said on Sunday. “Missiles will speak for themselves.”
While Ukraine celebrates the approval of the missiles as a win, experts note that the move may not shift the war’s dynamics. A senior French military official was cited as saying by Politico that the missile strikes could “slow things down, but not stop them.”
He said the war remains an “industrial conflict,” where the side with greater production capacity has the upper hand. Russia continues to deploy North Korean missiles and Iranian-made drones against Ukrainian targets.
Russia has consistently maintained that Western military support for Ukraine is a direct involvement in the war. In September, President Vladimir Putin warned that allowing long-range strikes would equate to NATO entering the conflict.
Kremlin officials reiterated these concerns on Monday, accusing Washington of escalating tensions to dangerous levels.