The Russian government views the use of these missiles, which have a range of up to 300 kilometers (186 miles), as a significant escalation.
According to Russia’s Ministry of Defense, its air defenses successfully downed the eight ballistic missiles, along with 72 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) of the aircraft type. The ministry warned that these actions by the Ukrainian government, which it claims are supported by Western nations, will be met with retaliation.
The statement also mentioned that several drones were destroyed in the Leningrad region in the northwest, and one in Kursk, where Ukraine had launched a surprise attack last summer.
In November, outgoing US President Joe Biden authorized the use of ATACMS by Ukraine, citing Russia’s expansion of the conflict by deploying North Korean troops.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to respond to Ukrainian strikes involving ATACMS with Russia’s new nuclear-capable ballistic missile, “Oreshnik.” Last month, Putin suggested that the missile could be fired at Kyiv to test Western-supplied air defense systems. The missile’s first and only launch was aimed at Ukraine’s Dnipro region on November 21.
Ukrainian drone attacks led to temporary restrictions at an airport in St. Petersburg, according to Russian state media agency TASS.
Aleksandr Drozdenko, governor of the Leningrad oblast, stated on Telegram that January 4 saw a record number of UAVs destroyed, with four downed in his region. A Ukrainian security official, Andrii Kovalenko, mentioned that a seaport in Leningrad was targeted, calling it an “instrument of economic and military survival for Russia in isolation.”
Russia’s defense ministry also reported that its forces had taken control of the village of Nadiya in Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region. In Donetsk, Russian forces are intensifying pressure on the Pokrovsk hub as Ukrainian forces lose ground to the south and east of the town.
Ukraine is also worried about potential cuts to vital military aid under the incoming Trump administration, with Trump having vowed to end the conflict.
