In a statement, the Russian army said, Wednesday, December 11, that “six American-made ATACMS ballistic missiles” had been used to attack the Taganrog military airfield in the Russian region of Rostov (southwest) on Wednesday morning. . Russia has promised “a response” to this new alleged attack on Ukraine.
Two missiles were “shot down” and “the others […] hijacked by electronic warfare equipment”, assured the Russian army. The fall of debris “injured personnel” of the military site and two buildings were notably “damaged”, without further details. Earlier Wednesday , Russian Telegram channels had published supposed videos of the attack on Taganrog in which we can hear serial explosions. The governor of the Rostov region, Yuri Slioussar, for his part spoke of “a missile attack” in the. night on Taganrog, while the municipality reported a heating cut in around thirty residential buildings.
The Ukrainian authorities, for the moment, have not claimed responsibility or commented. After obtaining the green light from Washington and London in November to attack Russia with American ATACMS and British Storm Shadow long-range missiles, Ukraine has since carried out strikes on Russian soil using these precise weapons, which each time provoked the anger of Moscow.
Threat of response by “Orechnik” missile
Recently, in response to similar strikes, President Vladimir Putin threatened to bomb decision-making centers in kyiv with his experimental Orechnik hypersonic missile, which can carry a nuclear warhead, and Western countries that help Ukraine attack the territory Russian. A senior American official warned on Wednesday, on condition of anonymity, that Moscow could strike Ukraine with an Orechnik missile “in the coming days.”
In response to daily Russian bombings on its infrastructure and cities, Ukraine has increased attacks against military and energy sites in Russia, in order to disrupt the logistics of Moscow’s army which still occupies nearly 20% of Ukrainian territory. . Its army said on Wednesday that it had struck an oil terminal in the Russian region of Bryansk (west) overnight, causing “a massive fire” in this site “actively used to supply” Russian troops.
Faced with kyiv’s strikes, Russia fired an Orechnik missile against a Ukrainian city on November 21, a warning signal to Westerners according to the Kremlin and an escalation of tensions unprecedented in nearly three years of high-intensity conflict. This hitherto unknown weapon can strike anywhere in Europe and could target the American west coast according to its characteristics praised by the Russian president, who however swore that he would warn in the future before launching his Orechnik.
On the ground, Russian forces have the advantage in eastern Ukraine, advancing towards the towns of Pokrovsk and Kurakhové. In Russia’s Kursk region, where kyiv’s army has controlled hundreds of square kilometers since August, Kremlin troops said Wednesday they had recaptured two villages. Each camp seems to want to do everything to improve its position on the battlefield as much as possible, at a time when rumors are swirling about possible peace negotiations in 2025, after the arrival of Donald Trump at the White House.