Live: Kremlin says US 'fuels' tensions by allowing Ukrainian missile strikes inside Russia

Summary: 

• US President Joe Biden has given Ukraine permission for the first time to strike Russian territory with US-supplied long-range missiles, a US official told AFP on Sunday. 
• The Kremlin said on Monday that Biden "fuels" tensions by permitting US-made missiles long-range missiles to strike targets inside Russia. 
• Ukraine said it would introduce nationwide emergency power restrictions Monday after a "massive" Russian attack further damaged its already fragile energy grid ahead of a much-feared winter, with nine civilians also killed across the country on Sunday. 

18/11/2024 - 12:04

German position unchanged on long-range missiles for Ukraine

Germany is sticking with its decision not to provide long-range missiles to Ukraine, a German government spokesperson said on Monday, after Washington shifted course to allow US-made weapons to be used to strike deep within Russia.

“The chancellor’s decision is unchanged,” the spokesperson told a news conference in Berlin.

Germany is Ukraine’s second-biggest donor of military aid after the US but Scholz has balked at equipping Ukraine with German-made long-range Taurus missiles, fearing an escalation of the conflict with Russia.

18/11/2024 - 11:56

Polish president says US decision could be ‘decisive’ for Ukraine

Polish President Andrzej Duda said on Monday that the US president’s decision on allowing Ukraine to use US-made weapons to strike deep into Russia may be a decisive moment in the war between the two neighbours.

“This decision was very necessary ... Russia sees that Ukraine enjoys strong support and that the West’s position is unyielding and determined. It’s a very important, potentially decisive moment in this war,” Duda told journalists.

18/11/2024 - 11:17

Russia claims capture of village in eastern Ukraine

Russian forces have taken control of the village of Novooleksiivka in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, the RIA state news agency reported on Monday, citing the Defence Ministry.

FRANCE 24 could not immediately confirm the report independently.

18/11/2024 - 10:29

Kremlin says US decision on long-range strikes stokes tensions

The Kremlin said on Monday that if the United States allowed Ukraine to use US-made weapons to strike far into Russia then it would lead to a rise in tension and deepen the involvement of the United States in the conflict.

Reuters, citing two US officials and a source familiar with the decision, reported on Sunday that the Joe Biden administration has decided to allow Ukraine to make strikes with US-made weapons deep into sovereign Russian territory.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the outgoing administration of Joe Biden was adding fuel to the fire and seeking to escalate the conflict in Ukraine.

18/11/2024 - 10:16

German foreign minister describes US decision on Ukraine air defence as ‘important’

The United States has taken an important decision in terms of its support for Ukraine’s air defences, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Monday, while stressing that this was not a shift in strategy by the West.

“The decision from the American side, and I would like to emphasise that this is not a rethink but an intensification of what has already been delivered by other partners, is so important at this moment,” Baerbock said in Brussels ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers.

President Joe Biden’s administration has allowed Ukraine to use US-made weapons to strike deep into Russia, two US officials and a source familiar with the decision said on Sunday.

18/11/2024 - 10:13

France says allowing Ukraine to use French missiles inside Russia ‘still an option’

France, which has provided long-range missiles to Ukraine, on Monday signalled allowing Kyiv to strike military targets inside Russia remained an option on the table.

“We openly said this was an option that we would consider if it was to allow to strike a target from where Russia is currently aggressing Ukrainian territory. So nothing new on the other side,” Jean-Noël Barrot told journalists ahead of a EU ministers’ meeting in Brussels.

18/11/2024 - 09:48

EU should allow Ukraine to strike inside Russia, foreign policy chief says

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has expressed his hope that EU members could agree to allow Ukraine to use arms to strike inside Russia.

“I’ve been saying once and again that Ukraine should be able to use the arms we provided to them, in order to not only stop the arrows but also to be able to hit the archers,” Borrell said before a meeting with EU foreign ministers in Brussels.

“I continue believing this is what has to be done. I’m sure we will discuss once again. I hope member states will agree on that.”

18/11/2024 - 09:37
18/11/2024 - 09:13

China urges peace in Ukraine after US clears missile strikes on Russia

China reiterated calls Monday for a peaceful settlement to the war in Ukraine, after Washington cleared Kyiv to use long-range American missiles against military targets inside Russia.

“An early ceasefire and a political solution serve the interests of all parties,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a regular briefing, when asked about the US decision.

“The most urgent thing is to promote the cooling down of the situation as soon as possible,” he said.

China presents itself as a neutral party in the Ukraine war and says it is not sending lethal assistance to either side, unlike the United States and other Western nations. But it remains a close political and economic ally of Russia and NATO members have branded Beijing a “decisive enabler” of the war, which it has never condemned.

18/11/2024 - 08:33

Russian missile strike kills 11 people, including 2 children, in Ukraine’s Sumy

Two children were among 11 people killed when a Russian missile hit a residential building in Ukraine’s northeastern city of Sumy late on Sunday, while another missile strike left the region’s administrative centre without power.

Eighty-nine people, including 11 children, were also injured in the attack, Ukraine’s state emergency service said via the Telegram messaging app.

The attack on Sumy followed a morning of Russia pounding Ukraine’s power grid in what Kyiv said was a “massive” attack with 120 missiles and 90 drones that killed at least seven people.

“Sunday evening for the city of Sumy became hell, a tragedy that Russia brought to our land,” Volodymyr Artyukh, the head of the Sumy military administration said in a post on the administration’s Telegram messaging channel.

18/11/2024 - 07:37

Ukraine’s air force says it shot down 8 Russian drones overnight

Ukraine’s air force said on Monday that it shot down eight out of 11 Russian drones during an overnight attack.

Ukraine’s military lost three more drones on its radars, according to the statement on the Telegram messaging app.

Russia also used two Iskander-M ballistic missiles and one Kh-59 guided missile to attack the country, the air force said.  

18/11/2024 - 07:16

Russia says it has downed dozens of Ukrainian drones overnight

Russia downed 59 Ukranian drones overnight, the majority across border regions, the defence ministry said.

“During the past night, attempts by the Kyiv regime to carry out terrorist UAV attacks against targets on the territory of the Russian Federation were thwarted,” the ministry said in a statement, putting the number at 59.

The ministry said the majority of drones were downed across three regions bordering Ukraine: 45 in Bryansk, six in Kursk and three in Belgorod. Three drones were also intercepted in the region of Tula, south of the capital, while two others were downed over the Moscow region.

Sergei Sobyanin, mayor of Moscow, said on Telegram that one was destroyed over the Ramenskoye district without causing casualties or damage, and a second was located in Pavlovo-Possad district. 

18/11/2024 - 06:04

Russian lawmaker says Biden is risking WW3 with missile decision

Russian lawmaker Maria Butina said on Monday that the administration of President Joe Biden was risking World War Three if it had allowed Ukraine to use US-made weapons to strike deep into Russia.

"These guys, Biden's administration, is trying to escalate the situation to the maximum while they still have power and are still in office," Butina told Reuters.

"I have a great hope that (Donald) Trump will overcome this decision if this has been made because they are seriously risking the start of World War Three which is not in anybody's interest."

18/11/2024 - 02:02

Russia's air defence units destroy drone heading towards Moscow, mayor says

Russia's air defence units destroyed a drone heading towards Moscow, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said early on Monday.

"According to preliminary information, there is no damage or casualties at the site of the fall of the debris," Sobyanin wrote on his Telegram messaging channel.

18/11/2024 - 00:51

Strikes are not made with words, says Zelensky

“Strikes are not made with words," he said during his nightly video address. “Such things are not announced. The missiles will speak for themselves.”

Zelensky and many of his Western supporters have been pressing Biden for months to allow Ukraine to strike military targets deeper inside Russia with Western-supplied missiles, saying the US ban had made it impossible for Ukraine to try to stop Russian attacks on its cities and electrical grids. 

Zelensky's statement came shortly after he posted a message of condolence on Telegram following a Russian attack on a nine-story building that killed at least eight people in the northern city of Sumy, 40 kilometres (24 miles) from the border with Russia. 

17/11/2024 - 21:50
17/11/2024 - 21:46

Russian strike kills eight in northeast Ukraine

A Russian missile strike killed eight people, including a child, in the northeastern Ukraine city of Sumy Sunday, the regional prosecutor's office said, after the country suffered a massive attack the night before.

Ten other residents were wounded in an attack that damaged at least 10 multi-storey buildings in a residential area, the office said. 

17/11/2024 - 21:39

Zelensky, speaking about long-range strike reports, says missiles speak for themselves

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that "missiles speak for themselves" and "such things are not announced", after reports that Washington had granted Kyiv permission to conduct strikes deeper into Russia with US-made missiles.

Two US officials and a source familiar with the decision revealed the significant reversal of Washington's policy in the Ukraine-Russia conflict earlier on Sunday.

17/11/2024 - 21:35

US allowing long-range strikes by Ukraine will get response, Russian lawmaker cited as saying

Washington's decision to let Ukraine strike deep into Russia with long-range US missiles could lead to World War Three and will receive a swift response, Vladimir Dzhabarov, first deputy head of the Russian upper house's international affairs committee, said on Sunday, according to the TASS news agency.

Two US officials and a source familiar with the decision revealed the significant reversal of Washington's policy in the Ukraine-Russia conflict earlier on Sunday.

17/11/2024 - 21:11

Long-range missiles against Russia 'a language Putin understands', says Warsaw

Poland on Sunday welcomed news that US President Joe Biden had cleared Ukraine to use long-range missiles against military targets inside Russia, something Kyiv had been urging for months.

"With the entry into the war of North Korea troops and (Sunday's) massive attack of Russian missiles, President Biden responded in a language that (Russian President) V.Putin understands," Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski posted on X.

"The victim of aggression has the right to defend himself," Sikorski added in his post. "Strength deters, weakness provokes."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has long pushed for authorisation from Washington to use the powerful Army Tactical Missile System, known by its initials ATACMS, to hit targets inside Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that approval would mean that NATO was "at war" with his country – a threat he has made previously when Ukraine's Western backers have escalated their military assistance to Kyiv.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP & Reuters)