In a significant escalation of the Russia-Ukraine war, Ukrainian forces have fired a volley of British-made Storm Shadow cruise missiles into Russian territory. The move comes just a day after Ukraine deployed US-provided Atacms missiles and marks the first use of these advanced Western weapons against targets inside Russia.
The strikes, which targeted sites in Russia’s Kursk region bordering northeastern Ukraine, were widely reported by Russian war correspondents on Telegram. Video footage purportedly captured the sound of the missiles impacting their targets. UK officials confirmed to media sources that they had approved Ukraine’s use of the Storm Shadow missiles against Russian targets in response to a major development on the battlefield.
North Korean Troops Deployed to Russian Border
According to British and American intelligence, over 10,000 North Korean troops have been sent to Russia’s border with Ukraine in what analysts are calling a significant escalation. The troops, which include units integrated into Russia’s airborne forces and marines, with some already seeing combat, were accompanied by additional North Korean arms shipments such as artillery and rocket launchers.
The deployment of North Korean forces represents an alarming internationalization of the conflict.
A senior US defense official speaking on condition of anonymity
In response to the North Korean intervention, the UK authorized Ukraine’s use of the Storm Shadow missiles, signaling a readiness by Western allies to provide Kyiv with more impactful weapons as the war intensifies. The US is also accelerating and expanding its military aid.
US Embassy Reopens Amid Attack Warnings
The US announced it would reopen its embassy in Kyiv on Thursday, just a day after closing it due to warnings of an imminent “significant air attack” on the Ukrainian capital. The closure and rapid reopening underscores the fluid and unpredictable security situation as the war enters a new phase.
Meanwhile, the US decision to provide Ukraine with anti-personnel landmines, reversing a long-standing policy, was driven by changes in Russian tactics that increasingly favor infantry assaults over armored thrusts, according to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the mine shipments as “essential to stop Russian assaults” in a video address.
Warnings and Calls for Restraint
The director of Russia’s foreign intelligence service, Sergey Naryshkin, warned that Western strikes inside Russia would not go “unpunished.” In Belarus, which hosts Russian forces, the military chief of staff described the US moves to supply Ukraine with longer-range weapons and mines as “irresponsible.”
Amidst the escalation, a group of four Latin American countries – Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico – issued a joint plea to “avoid actions that would escalate the arms race” in the conflict, fearing an uncontrollable spiral of retaliation.
As the war reaches new levels of intensity and risk, with more powerful and controversial weapons entering the fray and the direct intervention of additional countries, the international community braces for an uncertain and potentially perilous period ahead. Calls for diplomacy and de-escalation vie with the grim realities of a conflict that continues to widen and deepen.
