By Elena Teslova
MOSCOW (AA) - Russia confirmed on Thursday Ukraine targeted its territory with UK-manufactured Storm Shadow missiles, saying two were intercepted by air defenses over the past day.
"Two Storm Shadow cruise missiles, six HIMARS rockets, and 67 unmanned aerial vehicles were neutralized by air defense systems," the Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the attack as "a new escalation" and criticized the outgoing Biden administration’s "irresponsible position" of allowing Ukraine to use American missiles to strike Russian territory.
"They continue to add oil to the fire of this conflict, in every possible way preventing any dynamics for its completion, while, of course, using Ukraine as a tool in their hands in their war with the Russian Federation," Peskov noted.
On Monday, US President Joe Biden authorized Ukraine to carry out strikes deep into Russian territory using Western-made ballistic missiles.
When asked about the possibility of Russia responding with more powerful weapons to Ukraine's attacks on its territory, the official declined to comment, referring the question to the Defense Ministry: "This is an issue for our military."
Russia on Wednesday said Ukraine had used ATACMS missiles to strike its Bryansk region, and most of them were intercepted by Pantsir and S-400 air defense systems.