Ukraine Sentences Russian Actor Mashkov In Absentia For Supporting War

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on November 19 that Ukraine used six U.S.-supplied ATACMS missiles in its attack on the Bryansk region overnight, claiming Russian forces managed to shoot down five of the missiles and damage one.

According to the ministry, fragments from the damaged ATACMS fell on a military target, causing a fire that was quickly extinguished. The ministry also said there were no casualties.

Hours earlier, the Russian RBK news agency quoted an informed source within Ukraine’s military as saying Kyiv had used ATACMS missiles for the first time, targeting an object in the city of Karachev in Russia’s southwestern Bryansk region, successfully damaging the facility.

Kyiv did not officially confirm the reports, but President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, when asked about them, said only that “Ukraine has long-range capabilities, including domestically produced long-range drones…and now we have ATACMS as well.”

AFP quoted an unnamed senior Ukrainian official as saying that the strike “was carried out by ATACMS missiles.”

The timing of this operation, coinciding with the 1,000th day of Russia’s invasion, carries symbolic weight. By further demonstrating its capacity to retaliate with precision and range, observers believe Ukraine seeks to shift the strategic calculus of the war, showing Russian territory is not immune from direct attacks.

Ukraine for months has been striking inside Russia with its drones, often with precise attacks. ATACMS, however, are more powerful and faster and therefore tougher to shoot down. The reported U.S. permission on ATACMS expands the type and increases the number of Ukraine’s long-range options.

The same day, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an updated nuclear doctrine. This revision allows for the consideration of nuclear weapons use if Russia faces a conventional missile assault supported by a nuclear power.

The doctrine now includes attacks with conventional missiles, drones, or other aircraft as potential triggers for a nuclear response. Additionally, any aggression against Russia by a state allied with a nuclear power will be viewed as aggression by the entire coalition.

Ukrainians awoke on November 19 to news of yet another deadly Russian drone strike on a residential building.

Ukrainian authorities said that six people were killed, including one child, in the early morning attack that hit a five-story building in the city of Hlukhiv, in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region.

Twelve people were injured, two of them children, and one section of the building collapsed.

Rescue workers were on the scene and officials expressed fears that the casualty count could rise.

Just two days earlier, Russian forces targeted an apartment building in the regional capital, Sumy, killing 11 people, including two children, and injuring more than 50.

The Sumy region, which borders Russia, has been a frequent target of artillery and drone strikes, with attacks intensifying in recent months.

Local authorities in Sumy have ordered the evacuation of 23 towns and villages, affecting around 6,000 people, as the region remains under near-constant threat.

Russia’s Defense Ministry continues to claim that it targets only military facilities, yet reports from Ukrainian officials and independent media document widespread civilian casualties and destruction of nonmilitary infrastructure.

Russia’s full-scale invasion, which began on February 24, 2022, has evolved into a prolonged conflict with significant losses on both sides.

For Ukraine, the war has meant widespread destruction, over 20,000 civilian deaths according to international estimates, and millions displaced. For Russia, the conflict has brought economic isolation, military losses, and growing internal dissent.

The use of ATACMS by Ukraine would reflect both the maturation of its military strategy and the increasing support from Western allies, who have progressively provided more advanced weaponry to counter Russian aggression.

However, it also raises questions about the potential for further escalation, as attacks on Russian soil may provoke a harsher response from Moscow.

With reporting by RBK, TASS, Interfax, dpa, and AP