Inevitably and predictably, Russian president Putin has responded to the use of American and British long-range missiles, sanctioned by US president Biden and British prime minister Starmer, deploying longer-range missiles into Ukraine which are capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
Following Biden’s decision to allow Ukraine to fire long-range Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) weapons into Russian, Starmer also allowed use of British-made Storm Shadow missiles to be fired into Russian territory.
The war is now ratcheted up yet another notch, threatening to spread and endanger more lives and involve more countries in direct combat.
This is from yesterday’s Financial Times:
“Vladimir Putin has said Moscow fired an experimental hypersonic missile at Ukraine on Thursday in response to the US and UK allowing Kyiv to use advanced western weaponry at targets inside Russia.
“The president of Russia said the Oreshnik missile, which can carry a nuclear warhead, targeted a factory in Dnipro, which was formerly the Soviet Union’s top-secret rocket-building facility…
“Putin said Russia would respond to “escalation . . . decisively and correspondingly”. Russia reserved the right to use its weaponry against military targets in countries that allowed Ukraine to use their weapons against Moscow’s forces, he added.”
Socialists should condemn the escalation on both sides. Socialists should not back either side. The working class has no reason to support either side in what is an inter-imperialist war preluding a much bigger conflict between the USA and its Allies, and China and its Allies.
The international working class must find a way to exert its own independent interests, using its immense power and strength and the solidarity of workers across borders, to destroy capitalism – the profit system – which causes wars, sending workers to their death and destroying their homes.
Workers! Your enemy is not your fellow worker on the other side of this conflict! Your enemy is your own ruling class which will happily send you to your slaughter in the interests of their profit!