In a week of fast-moving events Joe Biden allowed Ukraine to use American Atacms missiles inside Russia while Vladimir Putin responded with a re-written nuclear doctrine (which keeps strict limits for nuclear weapon use)
The story started when Ukraine hit an ammo storage in Bryansk region on 11/19: this happened right after US papers wrote about permission to strike only Kursk area. Russian military already moved its planes away from strike-range and learned to spread-out supplies — making these attacks less effective
Putinʼs new rules have multiple goals; they create fear make Biden look bad and support Donald Trumpʼs position on quick war end. The timing wasnt random: Moscow announced changes back in Sept making it look less aggressive. Biden played smart too waiting for North-Koreaʼs war entry before giving Ukraine strike-rights
- Russia could push Houthi attacks on ships
- Start more proxy fights worldwide
- Hit undersea cables in Europe
- Use other non-nuclear ways to fight back
The nuclear part of new rules says weapons can be used if Russia gets hit by WMDs or faces critical threats to its land. Theres also new stuff about air attacks across borders but the main point is clear — its all up to Putin himself to decide when and how to use nukes