One Russian official said he was considering evacuating residents from a region bordering Ukraine after President Joe Biden agreed to let Kyiv strike targets inside Moscow with U.S.-supplied longer-range missiles, reported Newsweek.
"We need to pack our things and take our relatives somewhere far away," one official from Russia's Voronezh region told news outlet Verstka, per Newsweek.
Another official from the region said they were sending their colleagues "maps with the missile strike radius."
Biden's shift in policy added an uncertain, new factor to the conflict on the eve of the 1,000-day milestone since Russia began its full-scale invasion in 2022.
Washington is easing limits on what Ukraine can strike with its American-made Army tactical missile system, or ATACMs, U.S. officials told The Associated Press on Sunday, after months of ruling out such a move over fears of escalating the conflict and bringing about a direct confrontation between Russia and NATO.
The Kremlin was swift in its condemnation.
"It is obvious that the outgoing administration in Washington intends to take steps, and they have been talking about this, to continue adding fuel to the fire and provoking further escalation of tensions around this conflict," said spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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