Pray for Peace: US missiles fired from Ukraine into Russia

It is reported in the media that the Kremlin has noted that American made long-distance missiles — ATACMS — were fired from Ukraine into Russia today. Biden — or whomever is running the US government now — gave Ukraine permission yesterday.

This is a major escalation: Russia has communicated that this puts a nuclear response back on the table. It also put the US closer to being directly involved in the war.

PLEASE PRAY FOR PEACE.

Ukraine Strategy?

This may have temporarily strengthening Ukraine's hand. Some idiots think that it gives them leverage in peace talks which might lie ahead.

Alternatively, Zelenskyy may just have angered the Russian bear…which could respond very badly.

Worse, Putin has warned against allowing Western weapons to be used against Russia. This could be consider as an act of war by the countries supplying those weapons.

ATACMS

As reported by the BBC, these missiles can hit targets up to 300km / 186 miles away. This puts some targets in Russia within reach.

Image from BBC

One of the difficulties for Ukraine is that they probably have a limited number of these missiles and each costs around $1.5m / £1.2m.

ATACMS are fuelled by solid rocket propellant and follow a ballistic path into the atmosphere before coming back down at a high speed and high angle, making them difficult to intercept.

They can be configured to carry two different types of warhead. The first is a cluster fitted with hundreds of bomblets designed to destroy lighter-armoured units over a wide area. These might include parked aircraft, air defences and concentrations of troops. Cluster warheads, while useful, risk leaving behind unexploded bomblets which pose a risk long after the fighting has stopped.

The second type is a single warhead, a 225kg high explosive variant of which is designed to destroy hardened facilities and larger structures.

The American decision is offensive considering the mandate just given to the incoming President in the recent US election — and the corollary lack of a mandate for the current government.

PLEASE PRAY FOR PEACE.

Dr. Kevin Hay
You can follow Kevin on 𝕏 ( Twitter ) @ kevinhay77