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Ukraine strikes arsenal amid reports U.S. ATACMS used in Russia for first time
KYIV, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Kyiv said on Tuesday it struck a Russian arsenal near the town of Karachev in the Bryansk region, over 110 km (70 miles) from Ukraine, in what two Ukrainian media outlets reported was a first strike with U.S.-supplied ATACMS missiles.
There was no official confirmation from Ukraine about what weapon was used. The military's general staff and military intelligence agency did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
Reuters and other outlets reported on Sunday that Kyiv was granted permission by the White House to use U.S.-supplied weapons to strike deeper into Russia. Reuters cited sources saying that Kyiv would begin the strikes in the coming days and that they would likely be carried out using ATACMS missiles.
Ukrainian outlets Forbes Ukraine and RBC Ukraine cited unnamed sources as saying that ATACMS had been used for the first time to conduct the strike in Karachev.
Russia's defence ministry said its forces destroyed 12 Ukrainian drones over the Bryansk region, where the attack took place, between 7:15 a.m. (0415 GMT) and 8:35 a.m., and four more between 9:10 a.m. and 9:20 a.m.
A subsequent report from Russia's state news agency TASS said Russian air defence forces had shot down 85 drones and five ballistic missiles launched by Ukraine in the past 24 hours.
The Ukrainian military said its strike was followed by 12 secondary explosions and detonations in the area.
"The destruction of ammunition depots will continue for the army of the Russian occupiers in order to stop the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine," it said.
Ukraine often uses domestically produced drones to hit targets deep inside Russia, further away than Karachev.
It has also started testing and producing small numbers of its own missiles, but it has repeatedly said that permission to conduct long-range strikes with U.S.-supplied weapons would allow it to hit Russia's logistics and launch sites for ordnance used to bomb Ukraine.
Washington for months resisted pressure from Kyiv and some of its allies to grant permission to use ATACMS inside Russia, fearing that the step would be seen as escalatory by the Kremlin.
The change comes largely in response to Russia's deployment of North Korean ground troops to supplement its own forces, a development that has caused alarm in Washington and Kyiv, a U.S. official and a source familiar with the decision said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in September that the West would be fighting Russia directly if it allowed Ukraine to strike Russian territory with Western-made long-range missiles, a move he said would alter the nature and scope of the conflict.
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