Agencies
Moscow
Russia has said its military successfully repelled a Ukrainian attack using long-range US-made ATACMS missiles in the Belgorod border region, and threatened to retaliate.
All ATACMS missiles used in the attack have been shot down, the Russian Defene Ministry said on Telegram on Saturday, adding that Moscow would respond accordingly.
It was not possible to independently verify the claims.
“On January 3, an attempt was made from Ukrainian territory to launch a missile attack against the Belgorod region using US-made ATACMS operational-tactical missiles,” the Russian Ministry of Defence said on Saturday.
“These actions by the Kiev regime, which is supported by Western curators, will be met with retaliation,” it added, saying all the missiles were shot down.
The ministry said earlier that air defences downed eight ATACMS missiles in total, without saying when or where.
Officials in Ukraine have not yet responded to the accusation. In November, US President Joe Biden had authorized Kiev to attack certain targets in Russia with US-provided ATACMS missiles in order to defend against the ongoing Russian invasion.
US President-elect Donald Trump said in an interview last month he was “very vehemently” opposed to Ukraine using the arms, which he said were “escalating” the conflict.
Besides military support from the US, Kiev will also reportedly receive its first French Mirage 2000-5F multirole fighters this month, according to French magazine Avions Legendaires.
Russia has said that it will respond to any attacks with the long-range missiles on Russian soil by launching hypersonic missiles on targets in Ukraine.
In November, Russia fired a medium-range Oreshnik hypersonic missile, which could potentially be equipped with nuclear warheads, at the Ukrainian industrial city of Dnipro.
However, the damage was minor and the missile did not carry any nuclear warheads.
Despite the Russian claim that all ATACMS missiles had been repelled, a high-rise building in the Russian city of Voronezh, to the east of Belgorod, had to be evacuated due to a drone strike, according to the city’s mayor.
Some 100 people were brought to safety and a state of emergency has been declared in one part of the city to facilitate the cleanup efforts, he said.
The Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) has a range of 300km (190 miles) and was first developed in the 1980s.
