Kyiv, Ukraine (AP) — The past week has seen the biggest escalation of hostilities Ukraine has witnessed since Russia’s all-out invasion, marking a new chapter in the nearly three-year war — a war tinged with uncertainty and fear.
It started with US President Joe Biden reversing a long-standing policy by allowing Kiev to deploy US longer-range missiles on Russian territory, and ended with Moscow attacking Ukraine with a new experimental ballistic weapon that the international community has alarmed and has increased fears of further escalation.
Here’s a look at the events in Ukraine in the span of a week that fundamentally changed the stakes of the war:
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SUNDAY: US approves longer-range attacks with American weapons
Washington has relaxed the limits on what can attack Ukraine with its US Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), after months of ruling out such a move over fears of escalating the conflict and setting up a direct confrontation between Russia and NATO.
The change came after the US, South Korea and NATO said North Korean troops were in Russia and were being deployed to help Moscow expel Ukrainian forces from Russia’s Kursk region. But the scope of the new shooting guidelines was not clear.
MONDAY: Russia warns of escalation if Western weapons are used within its territory
The Kremlin warned that Biden’s decision would further escalate international tensions.
“It is clear that the outgoing administration in Washington intends to take steps – and they have discussed this – to continue to add fuel to the fire and provoke a further escalation of tensions around this conflict,” said spokesman Dmitry Peskov .
TUESDAY: Ukraine fires US longer-range missiles at Russia for the first time; Putin lowers the threshold for a nuclear attack
According to widespread reports, Ukraine fired several ATACMS, attacking an ammunition warehouse in Russia’s Bryansk region. This was the first time Kiev used the weapons in enemy territory. Ukrainian officials have not officially confirmed the attacks, which took place on the thousandth day since the invasion.
Also Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin formally lowered the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons, opening the door to a possible nuclear response from Moscow to even a conventional attack by any country backed by a nuclear power. These could include U.S.-backed Ukrainian attacks
WEDNESDAY: US approves giving Ukraine anti-personnel mines
In the second major shift in US policy, the Biden administration announced it will give Ukraine anti-personnel mines to help slow Russia’s advance on the battlefield. Biden had previously postponed signing this due to international objections to the use of such mines because of the risks they pose to civilians. Russia uses them freely.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the change in Washington’s policy was necessary to counter changing Russian tactics.
Ukraine has also struck targets inside Russia using the British Storm Shadow missile, an equivalent of the ATACMS system, further irritating Moscow.
The U.S. and several other Western embassies in Kiev have been temporarily closed in response to the threat of a possible major Russian airstrike on the Ukrainian capital.
THURSDAY: Russia uses a new, experimental ballistic missile for the first time
The Kremlin fired a new intermediate-range ballistic missile at Ukraine in response to Kiev’s use of American and British missiles, Putin said.
In a televised address to the country, the Russian president warned that US air defense systems would be powerless to stop the new missile, which he said flies ten times the speed of sound and which he called the Oreshnik (Russian for hazelnut tree). on the Russian intercontinental ballistic missile RS-26 Rubezh, which can carry nuclear warheads.
Putin also said it could be used to attack any Ukrainian ally whose missiles are used to attack Russia. Moscow warned Washington thirty minutes before the attack on an arms factory in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro.
FRIDAY: NATO calls an emergency meeting as Ukraine’s parliament closes
NATO and Ukraine have scheduled emergency talks for Tuesday, the alliance said. The meeting will take place at the request of Ukraine and will take place at ambassadorial level.
The Ukrainian parliament also canceled a session as security in the city was tightened. Lawmakers said there was a credible threat of an attack on government buildings.
The Ukrainian partners have expressed their views on the dangerous new phase of the conflict. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the conflict was “entering a decisive phase” and “assuming very dramatic dimensions.”
