‘Fake News’: Trump Slams WSJ Story That White House Sanctioned Long-Range Ukraine Missile Attacks

Update (1630ET): President Trump has issued a statement via Truth Social calling The Wall Street Journal’s report implying that the US supported/sanctioned Ukraine’s use of long-range missiles into Russia is ‘fake news’:

“The Wall Street Journal story on the U.S.A.’s approval of Ukraine being allowed to use long range missiles deep into Russia is FAKE NEWS!

The U.S. has nothing to do with those missiles, wherever they may come from, or what Ukraine does with them!”

But the Russian sanctions threat remains “substantial”.

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As Dave DeCamp detailed earlier via AntiWar.com, Ukraine’s military said on Tuesday that it used British-provided Storm Shadow missiles to strike a chemical plant inside Russia’s Bryansk Oblast, signaling the US is again supporting Ukrainian missile strikes on Russian territory.

“A massive combined missile-and-air strike was carried out, including with air-launched Storm Shadow missiles that penetrated Russia’s air defence system,” the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said in a statement, according to Reuters. So far, the attack hasn’t been confirmed by Russia.

Storm Shadows are produced jointly by the UK and France and have a range of about 150 miles. Ukraine first began firing them into Russia last year, along with US-provided ATACMS missiles, which can hit targets up to 190 miles away.

In August, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump administration was not allowing Ukraine to fire ATACMS into Russia, a policy that also applied to Storm Shadows, since the Ukrainian military requires US targeting data to fire the British missiles.

But another report from the outlet this month said that President Trump reversed the policy and signed off on providing Ukraine with intelligence for long-range missile strikes on Russian territory.

The Financial Times has also reported that the Trump administration has been providing intelligence for long-range drone attacks on Russian energy infrastructure since July.

US-backed missile and drone attacks on Russian territory always risk a major escalation from Moscow, which could draw all of NATO into nuclear-armed confrontation with Russia.

Purported video of strike on Bryansk chemical plant…

BOOOM – The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirms that today a successful strike was carried out on the Bryansk chemical plant, during which several STORM SHADOW type cruise missiles were used along with other types of cruise missiles in the attack,… pic.twitter.com/FNJZBPaMOK

— Visioner (@visionergeo) October 21, 2025

When President Biden first gave Ukraine the green light to fire ATACMS and Storm Shadows into Russia, Moscow responded by altering its nuclear doctrine to lower the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons.