Ukraine Strikes Inside Russia Using ATACMS

First time ever

The Biden administration leaked incorrect information, and it’s arguably the best thing they’ve done in a while. The leaky White House skillfully exploited its own leakers.

Western media, citing sources, reported that the Biden administration had lifted long-range restrictions on ATACMS, but only for use in Kursk Oblast, Russia.

I wrote about it yesterday, but it turned out to be wrong — and I can’t hide my happiness over it. Yesterday, and the night before, Ukraine fired a volley of ATACMS into Russia’s ammunition depot in Karachev, Bryansk Oblast.

Had the information about relaxed restrictions been accurate and reached the media earlier, Russia would have adjusted its operations. The resulting panic was clear. One prominent Western supporter of Putin — who often gets his pro-Putin, anti-Ukraine messages amplified by the owner of the social media platform X — railed about escalation.

Russian officials echoed the same sentiment, with Vladimir Putin himself leading the charge by updating Russia’s nuclear doctrine on the same day ATACMS missiles hit targets in Russia. The Kremlin got the memo. Officials across the board started ringing the nuclear alarm bells. The panic was palpable, suggesting that local commanders in Kursk Oblast likely scrambled to make adjustments or move resources.

The Biden administration presented the rule relaxation narrative as a calculated response to North Korean troops arriving in Ukraine, aiming to deter Pyongyang from sending more reinforcements to support Russia in the war.

Kursk is where North Korean troops are currently operating and where more are expected to arrive. It’s also where Western media claimed the long-range restrictions had been eased.

Yet Ukraine’s ATACMS struck the 67th Main Military and Artillery Directorate (GRAU) in Karachev, Bryansk Oblast — a facility farther north of Kursk.

This marks the first instance of American-made ATACMS being used to destroy a military target inside Russia.

The Russians claimed that their air defenses intercepted all the incoming missiles and that falling debris caused a fire. According to them, nothing was damaged. However, as usual, video evidence tells a different story. A massive explosion triggered a huge fireball, followed by multiple secondary explosions. This pattern is typical of an ammunition depot catching fire.

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One thing is clear now: the rules have been relaxed — not just for Kursk Oblast, but beyond.

Russian forces will feel the full impact of this Western adjustment, especially in Kursk Oblast, where troop numbers continue to grow every month. We have yet to see a combined strike involving Storm Shadow/SCALP missiles hitting Russian targets from the air and ATACMS delivering damage from the ground. When executed together, such attacks would put immense pressure on the Russian force buildup in Kursk Oblast.

One by one, all the red lines have been crossed. The final red line has collapsed during what may be the Kremlin’s most precarious transitional period. Putin now faces a critical challenge: finding a way to pressure the West into slowing down its support for Ukraine. His goal is to prolong the war until Trump regains power. Even then, it would be a long shot, but from Putin’s perspective, that is the narrative he’s selling to his oligarchs and military officials: Wait for Trump. Wait for Trump.

Expect Putin to ramp up nuclear threats and escalate his rhetoric. Anticipate it. Avoid engaging with such content. The moment you see headlines with “escalation” or “nuclear,” steer clear.

We must remember that engagement drives engagement. Every second spent interacting with such content adds fuel to the fire. I will consciously avoid it, and I hope you do the same. I’ll treat it like a rotten fruit — poisonous to even touch.