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Kremlin Says Any New Longer-Range US Rockets Will Escalate Ukraine Conflict

This photograph taken on January 31, 2023, shows a destroyed building in Bogoyavlenka (alternatively spelled Bohoyavlenka) on January 31, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)
This photograph taken on January 31, 2023, shows a destroyed building in Bogoyavlenka (alternatively spelled Bohoyavlenka) on January 31, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)
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Kremlin Says Any New Longer-Range US Rockets Will Escalate Ukraine Conflict

This photograph taken on January 31, 2023, shows a destroyed building in Bogoyavlenka (alternatively spelled Bohoyavlenka) on January 31, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)
This photograph taken on January 31, 2023, shows a destroyed building in Bogoyavlenka (alternatively spelled Bohoyavlenka) on January 31, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that longer-range rockets reportedly included in an upcoming package of military aid from the United States to Ukraine would escalate the conflict but not change its course.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also told reporters that there were no plans for Russian President Vladimir Putin to hold talks with US President Joe Biden.

The US package of military aid, worth $2.2 billion, is expected to include longer-range rockets for the first time, two US officials briefed on the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.

Such rockets would allow Ukraine - which has said it plans to retake all of its territory by force, including annexed Crimea - to strike deeper into Russian-held territory.

Asked about the new aid package, the Kremlin's Peskov said:

"Yes, this is a direct way to escalate tensions, to increase the level of escalation, we can see that. It requires us to make additional efforts, but - once again - it will not change the course of events. The special military operation will continue."

Putin sent tens of thousands of Russian troops into Ukraine in February last year. He has said the operation was needed to protect Russia's own security and to stand up to what he has described as Western efforts to contain and weaken Moscow.

Ukraine and the West accuse Russia of waging an illegal war designed to expand its territory.

‘Bounty payments’

The Kremlin also welcomed a Russian company's offer of "bounty payments" for soldiers who destroy Western-made tanks on the battlefield in Ukraine, saying it would spur Russian forces to victory.

The Russian company Fores this week offered 5 million roubles ($72,000) in cash to the first soldiers who destroy or capture US-made Abrams or German Leopard 2 tanks in Ukraine.

Peskov said Russian troops would "burn" any Western tanks that were delivered to Ukraine, adding the bounties were extra encouragement for Russian soldiers.

"This testifies to the unity and the desire of everybody to contribute as best they can, one way or another, directly or indirectly, to achieving the goals of the special military operation," he added.

"As for these tanks, we have already said they will burn. With such incentives, I think there will be even more enthusiasts."

The Western-made tanks - far more advanced than anything used by Ukraine or Russia in the conflict so far - are unlikely to arrive at the frontlines in eastern and southern Ukraine for several months.

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India Fires Missiles into Pakistani Territory in what Islamabad Calls 'Act of War'

A private security guard walks through rubble of a damaged building after a suspected Indian missile attack, in Muridke, a town in Pakistan's Punjab province, Wednesday, May 7, 2025. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
A private security guard walks through rubble of a damaged building after a suspected Indian missile attack, in Muridke, a town in Pakistan's Punjab province, Wednesday, May 7, 2025. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
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India Fires Missiles into Pakistani Territory in what Islamabad Calls 'Act of War'

A private security guard walks through rubble of a damaged building after a suspected Indian missile attack, in Muridke, a town in Pakistan's Punjab province, Wednesday, May 7, 2025. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
A private security guard walks through rubble of a damaged building after a suspected Indian missile attack, in Muridke, a town in Pakistan's Punjab province, Wednesday, May 7, 2025. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

India fired missiles into Pakistani-controlled territory in several locations early Wednesday, killing at least 26 people including a child, in what Pakistan's leader called an act of war.
India said it struck infrastructure used by militants linked to last month’s massacre of tourists in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir.
Pakistan claimed it shot down several Indian fighter jets in retaliation as two planes fell onto villages in India-controlled Kashmir. At least seven civilians were also killed in the region by Pakistani shelling, Indian police and medics said.
Tensions have soared between the nuclear-armed neighbors since the attack, which India has blamed Pakistan for backing. Islamabad has denied the accusation.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned Wednesday’s airstrikes and said his country would retaliate.
“Pakistan has every right to give a robust response to this act of war imposed by India, and a strong response is indeed being given,” The Associated Press quoted Sharif as saying.

Stephane Dujarric, the United Nations spokesperson, said in a statement late Tuesday that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for maximum restraint because the world could not “afford a military confrontation” between India and Pakistan.
Indian politicians from different political parties lauded the strikes. “Victory to Mother India,” India’s defense minister, Rajnath Singh, wrote on X.
India’s main opposition Congress party called for national unity and said it was “extremely proud” of the country’s army. “We applaud their resolute resolve and courage,” Congress party president Mallikarjun Kharge said.
India's army said the operation was named “Sindoor,” a Hindi word for the bright red vermillion powder worn by married Hindu women on their forehead and hair, referring to the wives who saw their husbands killed in front of them.
The missiles hit six locations in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and in the country’s eastern Punjab province, killing at least 26 people, including women and children, said Pakistan’s military spokesperson, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif.
Officials said another 38 people were injured by the strikes, and another five people were killed in Pakistan during exchanges of fire across the border later in the day.
Sharif said the Indian jets also damaged infrastructure at a dam in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, calling it a violation of international norms.
India’s Defense Ministry said the strikes targeted at least nine sites “where terrorist attacks against India have been planned.”
“Our actions have been focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature. No Pakistan military facilities have been targeted,” the statement said, adding that “India has demonstrated considerable restraint."
Last month's attack on tourists was claimed by a previously unknown group calling itself the Kashmir Resistance.

The Indian police and medics said seven civilians were killed and 30 wounded by Pakistani shelling in Poonch district near the highly militarized Line of Control, the de facto border that divides disputed Kashmir between the two countries. Officials said several homes also were damaged in the shelling.
The Indian army said Pakistani troops “resorted to arbitrary firing,” including gunfire and artillery shelling, across the frontier.
Shortly after India’s strikes, aircraft fell onto two villages in India-controlled Kashmir.
Sharif, the Pakistani military spokesperson, said the country’s air force shot down five Indian jets in retaliation for the strikes. There was no immediate comment from India about Pakistan’s claim.