Vladimir Putin. Photo: Gavriil Grigorov / AP
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that the Russian Defence Ministry is developing options for responding to possible Ukrainian strikes deep into Russian territory if the US and NATO supply Kyiv with long-range missiles. This was reported by Reuters.
The two-and-a-half-year war in Ukraine has sparked the biggest confrontation between Russia and the West since the Cold War. For weeks, Russia has been warning that allowing Ukraine to target Western missiles would be a significant escalation of the conflict.
In early September, Putin said that such a move by the West would be seen as NATO countries’ direct involvement in the war. He emphasised that Russia would prepare a response, although no specific measures have been announced so far.
“The Russian Defence Ministry is thinking about how to respond to possible long-range attacks on Russian territory and will propose appropriate solutions,” Putin said in a conversation with chief Kremlin reporter Pavel Zarubin.
At the same time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked the West to give Kyiv the ability to strike at Russian territory to weaken Russia’s aggression. However, US officials expressed skepticism, doubting that such strikes would have a significant impact on the course of the war.
Russia has also made some progress in eastern Ukraine in recent weeks, including taking control of the mining town of Selydove in Donetsk region, according to pro-Russian sources.
Putin, who ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, has presented the conflict as a confrontation with a “decadent West” that he sees as ignoring Russia’s interests. Ukraine and its Western allies consider Russia’s actions to be aggressive and warn that a Russian victory could lead to the strengthening of autocratic regimes around the world.
As the US presidential election approaches, Putin has changed Russia’s nuclear doctrine to demonstrate, according to the Kremlin, the seriousness of the threats posed by the West. The question of how the new US president will approach the war remains open: former President Donald Trump promises to end the war, while Vice President Kamala Harris declares her readiness to support Ukraine.
