Ukraine's military has hit a target inside Russia for the first time with Western-supplied ATACMS ballistic missiles, targeting a border region military facility, according to a Ukrainian military source.
"Indeed, for the first time, we used ATACMS to strike Russian territory. The strike was carried out against a facility in the Bryansk region, and it was successfully hit," an informed source from the Ukraine Defense Forces told RBC-Ukraine, the outlet reported Tuesday.
Ukraine's General Staff on Tuesday reported a hit on a munitions depot facility near Karachevb but did not confirm the weapons that were used or mention ATACMS in the official statement, stating that information is classified.
The strike report said 12 secondary explosions and detonations were recorded. The strike was the first known attack using Western ATACMS after President Joe Biden's administration on Sunday said it has agreed that Ukraine would be allowed to use weapons provided by the United States to hit targets inside Russian territory, a drastic change from U.S. policy.
The Ukrainian military source said the missiles were used to target a military facility near the city of Karachev, located in the Bryansk region of Russia. The target was approximately 115 kilometers (71 miles) from Ukraine's border.
The facility housed artillery munitions, including shells from North Korea, as well as anti-aircraft missiles, aerial bombs, and multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) ammunition, said Andrii Kovalenko, head of the Ukrainian Center for Countering Disinformation, an agency under Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council.
Ukrainian drones hit the same location in October.
The hit came as Russian President Vladimir Putin approved an updated doctrine Tuesday lowering the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons.
The updated doctrine says that Russia will consider a nuclear strike if it or its ally Belarus faces aggression "with the use of conventional weapons that created a critical threat to their sovereignty and (or) their territorial integrity."
The new document said that Russia will view aggression against itself or its allies by a non-nuclear state that is backed by a nuclear power as being a joint attack against it.
Its previous doctrine, released in 2020, said that Russia might use nuclear weapons in the event of a nuclear or conventional attack that threatens the existence of the country.
Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed Tuesday that Russia would consider an attack from Ukraine that uses Western missiles as a strike being made by a non-nuclear state that is supported by a nuclear power, reports Bloomberg, quoting the Russian state-run Tass news service.
"The Russian Federation retains the right to use nuclear weapons in the case of aggression using conventional weapons against it" if it poses a critical threat to Russian or territorial integrity or sovereignty, Peskov said.
The Russian military also confirmed the strike, reporting that its defense systems shot down five of the missiles.
"Tonight at 03:25 the enemy struck a target in the Bryansk region with six ballistic missiles. According to confirmed data, the ATACMS operational-tactical missiles used were American-made. As a result of the anti-missile battle, combat crews of the S-400 and Pantsir air defense missile and gun systems shot down five missiles and damaged one," the Russian military said, reports Tass.
The outlet further reported that there were no casualties as a result of the strike and that the Russian Defense Ministry has confirmed data on the use of American-made ATACMS.