Russia will enact a "more powerful" response to strikes on its territory, a Russian government official said Friday.
In a post on his Telegram channel, Russian State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin wrote in response to Ukraine's use of ATACMS missiles provided by the U.S. to attack a Russian munitions depot in Bryansk on Tuesday and Ukraine's attack in Kursk using Storm Shadow missiles provided by the U.K. on Thursday.
"The authorization by the United States and its allies to use Western-made long-range weapons against our country once again confirms that NATO is at war against Russia," he wrote. "Without their military specialists and satellite data, it is impossible to aim and activate the weapons.
"U.S. and British missiles have struck military facilities in the Kursk and Bryansk regions. The Russian Federation has repeatedly emphasized—and we have said this—that such actions will be met with a response. And a more powerful one at that. Politicians in Western countries need to ask themselves: are they ready for this and are they aware of the consequences?!"
Newsweek reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email outside normal business hours. Newsweek also reached out to the Pentagon and the U.K. Ministry of Defense by email.
Volodin's post followed Russian President Vladimir Putin's announcement on Russian TV, where he spoke about Russia's attack on Dnipro on Thursday and its use of a new hypersonic ballistic missile known as Oreshnik ("the hazel").
In his speech, Putin made similar statements to Volodin, saying: "In response to the use of American and British long-range weapons, on November 21 of this year, the Russian armed forces launched a combined strike on one of the facilities of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine.
"We believe that we have the right to use our weapons against military facilities of the countries that allow to use their weapons against our facilities. And in case of escalation of aggressive actions, we will respond resolutely in a mirror way."
The U.K. responded to Russia's threat of more powerful responses to Ukraine by offering to fight alongside them.
"If the British Army was asked to fight tonight, it would fight tonight," Rob Magowan, deputy chief of the British defense staff, told the House of Commons defense committee on Thursday. "I don't think anybody in this room should be under any illusion that if the Russians invaded Eastern Europe tonight, then we would meet them in that fight."
The U.S. responded to Russia's previous statement that if U.S. long-range missiles were used by Ukraine, they would provide a "tangible" response, and Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer said that Washington made it "clear to the Russians that we would respond," according to BBC News.
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