Ukraine has officially upped the ante in its conflict with Russia, launching its first strike on Russian soil using Western-supplied ATACMS ballistic missiles. According to a Ukrainian military source, the strike targeted a military facility in Russia’s Bryansk region, marking a significant escalation in the ongoing war and signaling the Biden administration’s tacit approval of Ukraine’s expanding reach. This is where the West’s moral posturing meets its “weapons in the hands of children” policy.
“Indeed, for the first time, we used ATACMS to strike Russian territory,” a source within Ukraine’s Defense Forces reportedly told RBC-Ukraine. The strike hit a munitions depot in Karachev, roughly 71 miles from Ukraine’s border, sending shockwaves—both literal and political—across the region. The facility, as described by Andrii Kovalenko from Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, stored artillery munitions, anti-aircraft missiles, and even North Korean-supplied shells. Yes, even Kim Jong Un is in the mix, because why not?
President Joe Biden’s administration seems to have given the green light for Ukraine to use U.S.-provided weapons on Russian territory. This drastic shift in U.S. policy basically screams, “Let’s poke the bear and hope for the best!” Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials are keeping mum on specific details of the strike, only confirming 12 massive secondary explosions at the target site. Not exactly subtle.
But here’s the kicker: Vladimir Putin has responded by tweaking Russia’s nuclear doctrine to lower the threshold for deploying nuclear weapons. Russia now reserves the right to launch nukes not just in response to a nuclear attack, but also if it or its ally Belarus feels a conventional attack threatens their sovereignty or territorial integrity. In short, it’s Putin’s way of saying, “One more move like this, and we’re flipping the board.”
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov made it clear that strikes like this, carried out with Western weapons, would be treated as aggression by a nuclear power. This isn’t a chess game anymore; it’s a pyromaniac juggling matches over a gasoline pit. But don’t expect the left-wing elites to grasp this; they’re too busy patting themselves on the back for arming a proxy war that could spiral out of control faster than a San Francisco city council meeting.
Of course, Russia claims its defense systems took out five of the six missiles, with the sixth causing “minor damage.” No casualties, they insist, though you can take that with a Siberian-sized grain of salt. Still, the symbolism of the strike—the first known use of U.S.-provided ATACMS on Russian territory—can’t be overstated. And while Biden’s administration dances on this geopolitical tightrope, the rest of us are left wondering what fresh chaos this will ignite.
This is what happens when you let a weak, rudderless administration make decisions that require strength and foresight. Joe Biden’s foreign policy has been a masterclass in disaster, from the botched Afghanistan withdrawal to enabling this war to escalate. Instead of pursuing peace, the Democrats are busy playing “arms dealer of the year,” and the world is paying the price.
