'We want to inflict a lot of damage and upset Putin'

A Ukrainian colonel describes how Kyiv hopes to hurt Russia with the US-made missiles they now have permission to use

- ASKOLD KRUSHELNYCKY

"Hopefully we will be able to upset Russia's plans by inflicting a lot of damage on troop concentrations and arms depots".

That is the reaction of a Ukrainian colonel – with close links to the army’s top brass – to news that Joe Biden had lifted the restriction on US-supplied long-range missiles being used to target Vladimir Putin’s forces deep inside Russia after months of pleas from Kyiv. A few hours later, on the 1,000th day of the invasion, Moscow claimed the first use of the US Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) ballistic missiles on the Bryansk region of Russia, about 80 miles from the Ukraine border. The missiles have a full range of around 190 miles.

Ukraine’s general staff of the armed forces said before the statement from Russia’s foreign ministry that the Ukrainian army carried out a strike on the arsenal of the 1046th Logistics Support Centre in the area of Karachev in Bryansk. The general staff said in a statement that multiple explosions and detonations were heard in the targeted area, without saying what weapons had been used.

“The destruction of ammunition depots for the Russian occupying forces, aimed at ending Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine, will continue,” the statement said. Ukrainian media, including RBC-Ukraine, cited a source saying: “Indeed, for the first time, we used ATACMS to strike Russian territory. The strike was carried out against a facility in the Bryansk region, and it was successfully hit.” Moscow claimed that the missiles were shot out of the sky, or damaged, with falling debris causing a fire.

“It’s better late than never and a positive development,” the Ukrainian colonel told The Independent. “But a key issue is how many ATACMS will the US provide? The US can [also] programme the range the missiles can fly – so another important step is what distance they will allow the missiles to strike.”