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Editor's note: The story was updated with comments from Rossiyskaya Gazeta and Leonid Slutsky.
Senior Russian lawmakers threatened on Nov. 17 that outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to allow Ukraine to strike deep inside Russian territory with ATACMS missiles could lead to World War III and the loss of Ukrainian statehood.
"This is a very big step towards the start of World War III," lawmaker Vladimir Dzhabarov said, according to Russia’s state-owned TASS state news agency.
Biden has authorized Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied long-range ATACMS missiles for strikes inside Russia, marking a significant shift in U.S. policy, several media outlets reported on Nov. 17.
Ukraine will likely initially use the missiles against Russian and North Korean forces in Kursk Oblast, but Washington could also authorize their use elsewhere, undisclosed official sources told the New York Times.
The decision has not been publicly confirmed by Kyiv or Washington, with President Volodymyr Zelensky saying that the "missiles will speak for themselves."
"The West has decided on a level of escalation that could end with the remnants of Ukraine completely losing their statehood," Andrei Klishas, a member of Russia’s Federation Council, wrote on his Telegram channel.
Leonid Slutsky, head of the nationalist Liberal-Democratic Party, said the step would "inevitably lead to a serious escalation, threatening serious consequences."
Government-owned Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper called it "one of the most provocative and uncalculated decisions" by the Biden administration that could lead to "catastrophic consequences."
The Kremlin has yet to comment officially on the latest reports. Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously said that long-range strikes against Russia with Western arms would mean NATO's involvement in the war, adding that Moscow is preparing "various responses" to such a step.
Russia has repeatedly set supposed "red lines" on Western assistance for Ukraine, sometimes accompanied by veiled or overt nuclear threats.
The policy change follows Biden's previous hesitance to provide such weapons out of concern for escalating tensions with Russia.
While U.S. officials do not expect this move to "change the overall course of the war," Biden reportedly aims to help Ukraine target critical Russian and North Korean military assets and send a deterrent message to Pyongyang, the New York Times wrote.
Proponents of the decision have long argued that this authorization would significantly enhance Ukraine’s defense capabilities, especially with Russia ramping up military offensives on many fronts and intensifying drone and missile attacks in recent months.
Martin Fornusek
