Britain denounces Putin’s ‘vicious’ nuclear retaliation threats after Ukraine carries out first attack on Russian territory using US-supplied missiles

Downing Street today hit back at Vladimir Putin’s “vicious” threats of nuclear retaliation after Ukraine struck Russian territory with a US-supplied missile.

A spokeswoman for the prime minister called the hard line coming from Moscow “the latest example of irresponsibility.”

After lowering the threshold for triggering a nuclear response, she emphasized that Putin caused the escalation of the situation, and not the West.

At the G20 summit, Sir Keir dodged whether he thought the Kremlin’s threats were real. “It is very important that we are steadfast in our support for Ukraine. Russia is the aggressor,” he said.

The comments came after a dramatic increase in rhetoric as Ukraine began deploying US long-range missiles.

The Biden administration gave Kiev the green light this weekend, despite fears it could escalate the conflict out of control.

A fiery explosion at an ammunition depot in Karachev, about 120 kilometers from the Ukrainian border in Russia’s Bryansk region, lit up the night sky early this morning on what is Ukraine’s 1,000th day of war.

Eyewitnesses and Russian military bloggers first reported the attack, while Ukrainian military officials later confirmed it RBC Ukraine the attack was indeed carried out with the US-made ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System).

Reports of the attack emerged within minutes after the Kremlin threatened a “nuclear response” if Ukraine struck targets on Russian territory with long-range munitions supplied by the West.

A spokeswoman for the Prime Minister (pictured at the G20 last night) said the hard line coming from Moscow was “the latest example of irresponsibility”.

“The Russian Federation reserves the right to use nuclear weapons in case of aggression against it with conventional weapons,” Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Russia this morning.

His statement followed Putin’s approval of an updated nuclear doctrine that allows his strategic forces to use nuclear weapons if Russian or Belarusian territory is threatened by a non-nuclear nation backed by a nuclear power.

Threats that could prompt Russian leaders to consider a nuclear strike include an attack with conventional missiles, drones or other aircraft, the updated document said.

A Ukrainian attack on Russian territory with US-supplied missiles meets these criteria, raising fears that Moscow could now consider a dramatic escalation of the conflict.

Asked whether the Russian leader was behaving irresponsibly, the No 10 spokeswoman said: “It would be fair to say that this is the latest example of irresponsibility we have seen from the depraved Russian government.

‘We remain steadfast in our support for Ukraine and its defense against illegal invasion, and we have always said that Britain’s defense starts in Ukraine.’

The spokeswoman said: ‘Our focus remains on supporting Ukraine… we are very clear that Vladimir Putin can end this war tomorrow.

“He was able to remove his troops, roll back his tanks and put an end to the onslaught and unnecessary bloodshed in both Ukraine and Russia. That is entirely within his gift.

“We would like to urge him to do so.”

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry issued a defiant statement despite the Kremlin’s nuclear saber-rattling, declaring that “Ukraine will never submit to the occupiers and the Russian military will be punished for violating international law.”

“We need peace through strength, not through appeasement,” the ministry added, as Volodymyr Zelensky called on Kiev’s allies to “force” Moscow into a “just peace” and promised his troops would “never surrender.”

Zelensky has long pressured his Western allies to allow his country to strike military targets deeper inside Russia. He said the restriction had made it impossible for Kiev to try to stop Russian attacks on its cities and power grids.

But Kiev’s Western supporters had resisted his pleas for fear it would cross a Putin “red line” — until last weekend when the Biden administration sensationally lifted the blanket ban.

Putin, who today signed the decree formalizing Russia’s updated nuclear doctrine, first announced changes to the document in September.

The Russian president said at the time that he would consider Western countries “direct participants” in the war in Ukraine if they gave Kiev the ability to attack targets in Russia.

He also suggested he might supply Russian missiles to Western adversaries to strike Western targets abroad in retaliation.

A fiery explosion lit up the night sky about 77 miles (123 kilometers) from the nearest Ukrainian border at an ammunition dump in Karachev, Russia’s Bryansk region.

Zelensky called on Kiev’s allies to “force” the Kremlin into a “just peace” and vowed his forces would “never surrender” to Russia