Egypt Daily News – The Kremlin on Monday accused US President Joe Biden of escalating the war in Ukraine, by allowing Kiev to use long-range American missiles to strike Russian territory, while Ukraine is being subjected to intense and bloody strikes, and losses are accumulating on the battlefield.
On Monday, Kiev announced that at least ten people were killed and 43 others were injured as a result of a Russian missile attack on the coastal city of Odessa in the south of the country, after Russia intensified its strikes on Ukraine over the weekend, targeting cities and energy infrastructure with missile attacks and drones.
For months, Ukraine has sought permission from Washington to allow it to use the American tactical missile system “ATACMS” to strike military facilities in Russia, especially airports from which its bombers take off.
Ukraine asserts that it aims, through these missiles, to paralyze the Russian aerial bombardment that demolished entire regions and towns near the front line and destroyed energy facilities throughout the country.
An American official confirmed to Agence France-Presse on Sunday, requesting anonymity, that Washington had authorized Ukraine to launch long-range missiles that it had delivered to it, deep into Russian territory, just weeks before outgoing US President Joe Biden handed over power to President-elect Donald Trump, who strongly criticizes his country’s aid. For Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced on Monday that Biden allowing Kiev to use long-range American missiles to strike Russian territory would “add fuel to the fire” in the conflict in Ukraine and lead to “provoking more tensions.”
Peskov warned that this permission, if officially confirmed by Washington, would lead to “a completely new situation regarding US involvement in this conflict.”
On Monday, Peskov quoted Russian President Vladimir Putin as saying in September that the strikes on Russian territory “will not be carried out by Ukraine, but by the countries that give permission.”
Peskov stressed that “the coordinates of the targets are not provided by the Ukrainian army, but rather by specialists from these Western countries, which radically changes the nature of their involvement.”
A Step too late
A senior official in the Ukrainian presidency, requesting anonymity, confirmed to Agence France-Presse that the United States did not authorize Ukraine to use the long-range missiles it provided to it until after Russia deployed thousands of North Korean soldiers to support it in the war.
He considered that the American move came too late, as Ukraine has been facing difficulties on the front for more than a year. “It is clear that the North Korean contingent is a fact that made not granting this permission quite strange, but the decision was necessary a year ago,” he said.
He refused to predict the impact of this step on the battlefield, saying, “We will see what results.”
On the ground, in eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian soldiers doubted the ability of this decision to make a difference, while they were losing territory almost daily.
One of the soldiers serving in the Pokrovsk region, a major logistical center in eastern Ukraine towards which the Russians are advancing, told Agence France-Presse that the American decision “may have come too late.”
The Russian army announced control of a new village, Novoleksievka, about 15 kilometers south of the city of Pokrovsk, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited on Monday.
Zelensky said on Telegram, “Pokrovsk. I visited the site of the 25th Airborne Brigade (…) which is defending the city.” He added, “It is a tense area. Thanks to the strength of the soldiers, the east was not completely occupied by Russia.”
In addition, media reported that US permission for Kiev to use long-range missiles may be limited to targeting the Russian Kursk region, which is controlled by the Ukrainian army. The Joe Biden administration has been Ukraine’s main supporter in resisting Russian forces since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022.
Ten dead in Odessa
Ukraine and its allies fear that American support for Kiev will decline with the return of Donald Trump to the White House, and that the president-elect will impose on it an agreement that includes making concessions to Russia.
For his part, the Russian President, whose forces are advancing at many points on the ground, insists on Kiev ceding territory, stressing that any negotiations to end the fighting must be based on “the new reality on the ground.”
Before the US elections on November 5, Russia intensified its deadly strikes on civilian areas in Ukraine, in a measure that Ukrainians believe is aimed at destroying their morale after they have been exhausted by the ongoing war for almost three years, and urging them to negotiate.
Initial photos taken by witnesses and published by news channels on the Telegram application on Monday showed bodies on the ground, burning vehicles, and a building shrouded in smoke and dust, as a result of the Russian attack on the coastal city of Odessa, far from the front line, which left 10 dead and 43 wounded, according to local authorities.
Zelensky said on Telegram, “These strikes show only one thing, which is that Russia only cares about war.”
Eleven people were killed, including two children, as a result of a bombing on Sunday evening on a residential area in the city of Sumy in the northeast of the country.
In addition, Ukraine was subjected to intense Russian attacks on energy facilities over the weekend, causing significant damage. The Ukrainian authorities announced a power outage in many areas on Monday, for the first time in months.
