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Russia has warned that a Donald Trump go-ahead to supply long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine will lead to a Kremlin declaration of nuclear war against the US and Britain. New signals from Washington say the American president has authorised providing Kyiv with beefed-up intelligence for long-range missile strikes on Russia's energy infrastructure, and is calling on NATO allies to do the same.
The US is also weighing the West providing Tomahawk and Barracuda missiles for Ukrainian strikes deep into Vladimir Putin’s territory after the Kremlin snubbed Trump’s peace moves. The agreed targets would allow a stepping up of Ukraine’s already successful strikes on Russian refineries, pipelines, power stations and other infrastructure to cripple Putin’s oil supplies and revenues.
But military analyst Colonel Igor Korotchenko, editor-in-chief of Russia’s ‘National Defence’ journal, singled out Tomahawk - which has a range of around 1,500 miles - saying such a move will trigger World War Three.
He claimed such strikes cannot be carried out only by Ukrainians but would require US or British military involvement to hit targets inside Russia. “From the point of view of international law norms — this is a ‘casus belli’,” he told Readovka. “Accordingly, Russia will have to respond with retaliatory strikes and, obviously, not only on the territory of Ukraine.”
He told Moscow city-owned TVC channel: “Tomahawk is a high-precision weapon and can be used in both conventional and nuclear warfare.
“Therefore, the very fact of transferring such weapons to Ukraine will mean that the United Kingdom or the United States - either of which can transfer such weapons to the Zelensky regime - will automatically enter into war against the Russian Federation. We will have neither the time nor the opportunity, nor the desire to ask ourselves questions such as: which Tomahawk, nuclear or conventional, was launched from Ukrainian territory at targets in Russia?”
In fact, there has been no suggestion that Tomahawks would be nuclear-armed.
Korotchenko said: “We are giving ourselves a free hand to respond in any way necessary. First and foremost, this is a qualitative change in the status quo. We will use our entire arsenal of conventional and nuclear weapons to eliminate such a threat if it becomes real.”
He also called for immediate action ahead of any Western deployment of Tomahawks, demanding the lights go out in Ukraine.
“The Zelensky regime must be deprived of light and fuel, then it will fall to its knees and crawl to sign a peace agreement on Russian terms,” he said.
Officially, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier this week of a Tomahawk deployment: “The question remains: Who can launch these missiles, even if they end up on Kyiv regime territory?”
He asked: “Can only Ukrainians launch them, or will the American military do so?
“Who is assigning the targeting to these missiles? This requires a very thorough analysis.”
The Trump move on intelligence is in stark contrast to his policy on return to the White House in January, and appears the direct result of Putin refusing to end the war and reach a peace deal with Ukraine.
The developments came as Russia staged new massive overnight strikes on Ukraine.
They struck Bucha - hitting a disused sanatorium - a district near Kyiv where, earlier in the war, hundreds were tortured, raped, and executed by Putin’s forces.
In the Kyiv region, dozens of enemy drones targeted residential areas.
In Odessa, the Russians hit a railway depot, wounding a train driver.
The Dnipropetrovsk, Chernihiv, and Sumy regions were left without electricity.
Oleksiy Kuleba, deputy premier, said it was “another difficult night for Ukraine” with “massive strikes” on “dozens of drones on peaceful settlements”.
He warned: “Russia is trying every day to destroy one of the foundations of Ukrainian stability - our infrastructure, which holds the country together. This includes railways, roads, and energy. The aggressor country uses weapons that are impossible without foreign components. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen sanctions and block all supply chains.”
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