Ukraine-Russia latest: Biden approves another US weapon to slow Russian army as Putin ramps up nuclear threat
The US embassy in Kyiv closed today over the threat of a “significant air attack”
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Your support makes all the difference.US president Joe Biden has approved the provision of anti-personnel landmines to Ukraine, as momentum builds in international support for Kyiv.
Ukraine has committed to not using the mines in densely populated areas, an unnamed official told The Washington Post.
It comes after Ukraine yesterday used American-made long-range ATACMS ballistic missiles inside Russian territory for the first time, in what Moscow described as an escalation of the conflict.
Mr Biden has ramped up support for Kyiv before president-elect Donald Trump - who is expected to take a softer stance to Russia and push for peace negotiations - re-enters the White House.
Ukraine’s forces struck a Russian arms depot 110km deep inside the country on the 1,000th day of war. Moscow warned that it would respond “accordingly”.
Hours afterwards, Vladimir Putin signed a new nuclear doctrine lowering the threshold under which Russia can deploy atomic weapons to respond to attacks on its territory, warning Washington.
A major aerial attack using conventional weapons is now grounds for the use of nuclear weapons, according to the doctrine announced in September and signed this week.
US shuts Kyiv embassy over fears of ‘significant air attack’
Putin’s ‘irresponsible nuclear rhetoric’ will not deter UK support for Ukraine
US will send Ukraine at least $275 million in new weapons in push to bolster Kyiv before Trump
The Kremlin has revised its nuclear policy. Does that make the use of atomic weapons more likely?
Ukrainian colonel ‘hoping to inflict a lot of damage’ on Russian troops and arms depots
Asked about Joe Biden’s decision on using US long-range missiles, a Ukrainian colonel – with close links to the army’s top brass – told The Independent: “Hopefully we will be able to upset Russia’s plans by inflicting a lot of damage on troop concentrations and arms depots.”
He added: “It’s better late than never and a positive development.
“But a key issue is how many ATACMS will the US provide? The US can [also] programme the range the missiles can fly – so another important step is what distance they will allow the missiles to strike.”
Askold Krushelnycky has more details:
Ukraine ‘wants to inflict a lot of damage’ with long-range missile strikes in Russia
Askold Krushelnycky speaks to a colonel who says Kyiv’s forces need to inflict as much pain on Vladimir Putin’s army as quickly as they can
Washington seeing no signs Russia planning to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, US official says
The Associated Press has quoted one anonymous US official as saying that Washington is seeing no indications that Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon in Ukraine, as Moscow warns that Ukraine's alleged use of US-made long-range weapons could trigger a strong response.
Asked on Tuesday whether a Ukrainian attack with longer-range US missiles could potentially trigger use of nuclear weapons, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov answered affirmatively.
US to send Ukraine $275m-worth of new weapons, officials say
The Pentagon will send Ukraine at least $275m-worth of new weapons, US officials have said, as the Biden administration rushes to bolster Kyiv’s defences ahead of Donald Trump entering the White House, and potentially seeking to bring an end to the war, freezing the current lines of conflict.
The weapons in the new package of aid for Ukraine include an infusion of air defence, including High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), as well as 155mm and 105mm artillery rounds, Javelin anti-armour munitions and other equipment and spare parts, US officials say.
The weapons will be provided through presidential drawdown authority, which allows the Pentagon quickly to pull supplies from its shelves to speed them to Ukraine’s front line.
Putin's nuclear doctrine revision ‘the result of careful escalation management’, says analyst
Vladimir Putin’s alteration of the Russian nuclear doctrine is “the result of careful escalation management by both sides”, an analyst has suggested.
Professor Sam Greene, of the Centre for European Policy Analysis, said on X: “Deep breaths, everyone. The fact that Russia published a revised nuclear doctrine on the same day that Ukraine first fired ATACMs across the border is the result of careful escalation management by both sides.
“We may eventually get to WWIII, but probably not tonight. None of this happened at a moment’s notice. Ukraine had been asking for permission for long-range strikes for ages. Biden made it clear it was a matter of time. Putin will have decided that this--a relatively minor revision of a document--would be his response.
“That said, the same factors that keep Nato and Russia from going to war with each other make it more difficult for Ukraine to win the war, to the enduring frustration of many in Ukraine and elsewhere. It’s a circle the Biden Administration was never able to square.
“The question now is, will Trump do any better?”
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