State Duma defense committee member Andrey Kolesnik suggested that U. S. President Donald Trump may have authorized Ukraine to use ATACMS missiles for strikes deep inside Russian territory.

He argued that Kyiv has very few of these U.S.-made missiles, noting that otherwise the Ukrainian army would be firing them far more often. Kolesnik pointed to what he described as an attempted strike on Voronezh Region as evidence for his view, adding that this would imply Washington had given a green light. He stressed that Voronezh is a border area and said the distinction between «deep» Russia and the frontier changes nothing for residents there.

Kolesnik maintained that the priority now is protecting Russian citizens. He called for a tough response against the Armed Forces of Ukraine and said the Russian military should also focus on eliminating foreign mercenaries, arguing that there is no room for leniency in such matters.