Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has warned US President Donald Trump not to give Ukraine access to long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles, which are capable of hitting targets deep inside Russia.
The latest warning is part of Moscow's coordinated efforts to dissuade Trump from providing Ukraine with the missiles, exploiting the fear of a direct conflict between Russia and NATO countries, writes The Washington Post.
Shortly after Ryabkov, the official spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, commented on the possibility of Ukraine receiving this type of missile from the US. According to her, the transfer of Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine will harm relations between Russia and the United States.
Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev reacted with an ironic comment to the news that Ukraine may receive weapons for ''deep strikes''.
The spokesman for the Russian president Dmitry Peskov was among the first to comment on the transfer of Tomahawk missiles to Kiev. He warned that this would inevitably lead to an escalation involving nuclear weapons.
All these warnings come to the United States after US President Donald Trump announced a few days ago that he had made a decision to sell Tomahawks to Ukraine, but first he wants to talk to Kiev about what targets he plans to strike with them.
"I think I want to understand what they are going to do with them. Where are they going to send them? "I think I have to ask that question," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office recently. And he "seems" to have already made up his mind.
The repeated warnings from Putin and other Russian officials reflect Moscow's concern about the possibility of Ukraine acquiring such weapons and appear to contradict Putin's assertion at a recent Russian foreign policy conference that the missiles "will not change the balance of power on the battlefield," the publication said.
Putin warned at the time that the weapons transfer would mark a "qualitatively new stage of escalation" because Ukraine would not be able to use them without the participation of American personnel. He suggested that Trump would ultimately refuse to transfer them because “he knows how to listen“.
"As you understand, without software and launchers, the missiles themselves are just blank cartridges. Accordingly, as the Russian side also stated at a high level, the hypothetical use of such systems is possible only with the direct participation of American personnel“, Ryabkov noted. And he stressed that they “call on the US leadership and the US military leadership to approach this situation soberly, sensibly and responsibly“.
According to The Washington Post, if Trump approves the transfer of Tomahawks to Ukraine, this will be a significant turn in his policy towards the war, depending on the restrictions that Washington will impose on their use. Until now, he has focused on trying to end the war and normalize relations with Russia - first calling for a ceasefire agreement (a demand that Ukraine accepted but Russia has repeatedly rejected), then, after meeting with Putin in Alaska, abruptly abandoning the strategy of insisting on a ceasefire.
Trump's decision to provide long-range missiles may be due to growing dissatisfaction with Putin, especially over Russia's strikes on civilian targets in Ukraine. He himself recently said that he believes Ukraine is capable of regaining lost territory and that Russia “should have stopped” war.
According to the Institute for the Study of War, at least 1,945 Russian military sites are within range of the Tomahawk variant, which has a range of about 2,000 km.
Ukraine could potentially significantly undermine Russia's combat capabilities on the front line by targeting a vulnerable sub-network of rear supply areas that support front-line operations, the Institute's experts believe.
Ukraine has so far used drones to strike Russian military and energy targets deep inside Russia, but they are not as destructive as missiles.
The first fifth-generation F-35 fighter jets have arrived in Belgium. This event brought the transfer of additional F-16s to Ukraine closer, Defense Express reports.
As the publication notes, the new Belgian fighters have arrived at the Florence air base, where they will later be deployed in the first squadron. This is done so that the aviation can be ready for rapid response operations by 2027.
At the same time, the country will retain its own F-16s until 2028, when they will be completely replaced by new F-35s. At the same time, the old aircraft will be withdrawn from the Air Force and transferred to Ukraine. This fact is confirmed by the transfer deadlines approved by the agreement until 2028.
The first one, intended for immediate transfer to Belgium, was sent from the factory only at the beginning of June this year with the number FL009. In total, the first batch transferred to the territory of the state consists of four fighters.
It is thanks to this delivery that it will most likely be possible to carry out the transfer of serviceable Belgian F-16s as early as 2026. In this way, it will be possible to strengthen the air fleet of Ukraine, providing primarily additional flights.
Ukraine is expecting the first deliveries of Swedish Gripen fighters. Kiev is also expected to receive additional F-16s and French Mirage.
A US Air Force plane designed to gather intelligence on enemy radar systems has been spotted circling near Russia amid rising tensions with Moscow, the Daily Mail reports.
Flight records show the Boeing RC-135 Combat Sent reconnaissance plane took off from England early on Tuesday morning, flew over the Baltic states and circled Kaliningrad - a Russian exclave between Poland and Lithuania - several times before returning to Britain.
The mission took place a day after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz accused Russia of waging a “hybrid war“ against Germany. The politician blamed Vladimir Putin for the incursion of reconnaissance drones into NATO airspace, which disrupted the work of the Munich airport and left more than 10,000 passengers stranded.
According to the US Air Force, the Combat Sent reconnaissance aircraft provides strategic electronic intelligence to the president, the secretary of defense, the Pentagon leadership and the commanders-in-chief of military operations.
What are the capabilities of the RC 135
"Detecting and identifying ground, sea and air radar signals of foreign militaries, Combat Sent collects and analyzes each system in detail, providing strategic data to military analysts“, says the aircraft description.
All of these aircraft are equipped with a refueling system during flight, which practically makes their flight range unlimited. As well as with modern communication and navigation systems. These include high-, multi- and ultra-high-frequency radios, navigation radar, a Doppler device and an inertial system that combines astronomical corrections with GPS.
The RC-135 is easily recognized by its characteristic antennas under the nose, on the wing tips, large "cheek" fairings and an elongated tail.
The crew usually consists of two pilots, a navigator, two onboard systems engineers, at least ten electronic intelligence officers known as "Crows", and additional technical specialists.
The aircraft records and analyzes the electronic emissions of foreign radar and communication systems, which allows analysts to identify enemy capabilities and develop countermeasures.
According to Western media, the purpose of the mission remains unknown, but the resource FlightRadar24 has registered the same aircraft with the call sign JAKE37 when it took off from the same base in England and flew around Kaliningrad on October 2nd - the same day the drones appeared in Germany.