Moscow [Russia], November 19 : Russia on Tuesday reported that Ukrainian forces fired six US-produced ATACMS missiles at Russia's Bryansk region, with five being shot down by S-400 and Pantsir AA systems, and one causing a fire after its fragments fell in the technical zone of a military facility.
Notably, this incident comes following the decision of outgoing US President Joe Biden to allow Ukraine to strike deep inside Russia using long-range missiles, a move strongly condemned by Russia as a significant escalation of tensions, and involvement of the United States in the conflict.
Sharing a post on X, the Russian Foreign Ministry wrote, "Russia's Defence Ministry: At 3.25 am, Ukrainian forces fired 6 US-produced ATACMS missiles at Russia's Bryansk region."
"Five missiles were shot down by S-400 and Pantsir AA systems, one was damaged, its fragments fell in the technical zone of a military facility, causing a fire," the post added.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during a press breifing also spoke about the Ukrainian attack on Bryansk and said, "ATACAMS are being used against Bryansk Oblast of Russia. [The missiles] cannot be used without American experts & specialists. We will be taking this as a qualitatively new phase of the Western war against Russia & will react accordingly."
Notably, the Russian report of the attack comes as Ukraine marks 1000 days since the Russia launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shared a series of posts on X and said, "1,000 days of war. 1,000 days since Ukrainians kicked Putin in the teeth. We must end this war--and end it justly. But we must do it in a way that ensures Putin, no matter how toothless, never returns to Ukraine. We need to make it certain."
He further emphasised the need to increase the production of artillery and ammunition and said, "Ukraine is already doing its utmost to increase the production of artillery and ammunition, both independently and in partnership with allies. This year alone, we have produced over 2.5 million mortar rounds and artillery shells ranging from 60mm to 155mm, and we are scaling up production."
He added, "We are also scaling up everything related to drones. Next year, Ukraine will produce at least 30,000 long-range drones. We have set the goal of manufacturing no fewer than 3,000 cruise missiles and drone-based rockets. Just as we achieved this year's targets for drone production and supply, we will fully meet these goals in the upcoming year. Ukrainian soldiers are already using our FPV drones to shoot down Russian reconnaissance drones, and we are exploring ways to target Shaheds with FPV drones."
In another post, he said, "Since the full-scale invasion, Russia has occupied nearly 18 gigawatts of energy capacity in Ukraine. Yet our people are doing everything to keep the lights on. Every person working for Ukraine's energy sector deserves our deepest gratitude."
He added, "Russia's army has already carried out over 1,000 strikes on Ukraine's energy facilities, 900 targeted attacks on electricity transmission infrastructure, more than 220 attacks on generation facilities."