Des missiles ATACMS interceptés par la Russie. MAXPPP – U.S. Army/Avalon
La Russie a affirmé samedi 4 janvier avoir intercepté la veille des missiles américains ATACMS tirés par l'Ukraine et promis “retaliation”, this type of attack being presented by the Kremlin as a red line in the conflict.
“These actions of the kyiv regime, which is supported by its Western guardians, will be subject to reprisals”, the Russian army warned in a statement.
In recent weeks, Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to order his army to strike downtown Kiev in response to Ukrainian attacks carried out with American ATACMS or British Storm Shadows, without however following through on his words at this stage.
Earlier Saturday, the Russian military said it had intercepted the day before, during this attack, “eight missiles” ATACMS that targeted the Russian region of Belgorod, on the border with Ukraine, and more than “72 drones”.
Moscow's forces have not specified, however, whether this Ukrainian attack had caused casualties or material damage.
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000In November, the administration of outgoing US President Joe Biden had authorized the use of such missiles by kyiv, after having long opposed it, following the deployment, according to the West and Ukraine, of thousands of North Korean soldiers in support of the soldiers Russians.
Since then, kyiv has carried out several series of attacks using these long-range ATACMS missiles, as well as British Storm Shadows.
Russia responded by firing for the first time an experimental hypersonic weapon called “Orechnik“, systematically promising “a response” to each Ukrainian attack of this type against its territory.
Trump opposed to these strikes
The American president-elect Donald Trump, who is scheduled to return to the White House on January 20, had said in mid-December that he was “strongly opposed” to the use by the Ukrainian army of American ATACMS missiles, referring to an “intensification” and a “aggravation” of the conflict.
Near the border with Ukraine, two people were injured in a Ukrainian drone attack in the town of Shebekino, according to the governor of the Russian region of Belgorod, Viatcheslav Gladkov.
On the front, a Ukrainian strike left at least ten people injured in the town of Gorlivka, in territory occupied by Moscow in eastern Ukraine, according to its mayor Ivan Prikhodko.
Further north, the Russian army claimed on Saturday the capture of the small town of Nadiïa in the Ukrainian region of Lugansk, which it annexed in 2022 and which it controls almost entirely.
Finally, four people were injured in a Russian drone attack in the South, according to the head of the municipal military administration of the large city of Kherson, Roman Mrochko.
In Russia, the Russian security services (FSB) announced on Saturday that they had arrested four minors suspected of wanting to commit a bomb attack “in popular places” in Yekaterinburg, in the Urals.
Since the start of the conflict in Ukraine in February 2022, Russian security agencies have frequently announced the arrest of individuals suspected in particular of collaborating with kyiv.
The trials for “treason“, “terrorism“, “sabotage” or “espionage“, which are always accompanied by heavy penalties, have multiplied in the country.
Thousands of people have been sanctioned, threatened or imprisoned because of their opposition to the conflict in Ukraine.