Russia Calls Ukraine Attacks Its Territory With 6 American ATACMS Missiles

Ukrainian Military/PHOTO via Instagram @uaf_general_staff

JAKARTA - Ukraine launched an attack on Russia's Belgorod region with six US-made ATACMS missiles on Thursday.

The Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed it would retaliate against the Ukrainian attack. But it is claimed that all Ukrainian attack missiles were intercepted, so as not to cause casualties or damage.

Moscow said it would respond whenever Ukraine fired ATACMS or a Storm Shadow cruise missile supplied by Britain into Russia.

Ukraine first used the weapons to attack Russian territory in November after obtaining permission from Washington and London.

Russia responded by firing a new medium-range hypersonic missile, Oreshnik.

The defense ministry said over the past week, Russia shot down 12 ATACMS, eight Storm Shadows, 48 US HIMARS rockets, seven French-made Hammer-guided bombs, and 747 drones.

The report for the first time reported Russian troops seized Slovianka village in eastern Ukraine, one of eight Ukrainian settlements that it said had been seized in the past week.

Russia has carried out eight major attacks in the past week against part of Ukraine's gas and energy infrastructure, which it says supports military facilities and the Ukrainian defense industry.

Ukrainian officials say Russian missile attacks killed at least four people and destroyed some of the educational facilities in the city of Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine on Friday.

It was reported that seven other people were injured, some of whom were serious, said Serhiy Lysak, governor of the Dnipropxisk region, via Telegram.