PDB Afternoon Bulletin | November 21st, 2024: Russia Launches Nuclear Capable Ballistic Missile At Ukraine & Arrest Warrant Issued for Netanyahu
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It's Thursday, 21 November. Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. Okay, fair. Enough. It's like the late afternoon bulletin. It's actually the early evening bulletin, and I apologize for my travel schedule. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed.

First, we start with another potential major escalation in the war in Ukraine. Oh, another escalation, as Russia launches a nuclear-capable medium-range ballistic missile for the first time since the war began. Then, the International Criminal Court, or the ICC, intervenes.

has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Golent, alleging that the pair have engaged in crimes against humanity linked to Israeli operations in Gaza. The move promises to further inflame regional tensions as Hamas shared the ruling and Israeli leaders condemned the action as "outrageous" and "antisemitic."

But first, our afternoon spotlight. On Thursday, Russia fired a new type of ballistic missile at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro overnight as part of an attack on critical infrastructure in the region. While officials in Kyiv initially said that it was an intercontinental ballistic missile or an ICBM, U.S. officials disputed that claim, saying that it was an experimental intermediate-range ballistic missile referred to as an IRBM.

Vladimir Putin himself addressed the situation in remarks on Thursday, saying Russia had indeed test-fired an experimental medium-range ballistic missile in response to Ukrainian long-range strikes using Western weapons earlier this week. Despite the debate about the specific classification of the missile, the one thing that ICBMs and IRBMs all have in common is that they are nuclear-capable weapons that can carry multiple warheads over a long distance.

Speaking on Thursday during an unannounced television address to the Russian people, Putin said the launch was, quote, a response to U.S. plans to produce and deploy intermediate and short-range missiles, end quote. He added, in the event of an escalation, Russia will respond decisively and symmetrically. Putin warned that more strikes using these types of weapons could follow, but said they'd issue warnings to civilians ahead of any further attacks.

According to an AP report, the missile was fired from a location nearly 500 miles away from its target, along with eight other missiles, though Ukraine managed to shoot down six with their air defense systems. An industrial facility and a rehabilitation center were damaged in the attack, and local reports said that two people suffered injuries.

For some background, intermediate-range ballistic missiles and medium-range ballistic missiles have a large range but less than the capabilities of an ICBM which can travel more than 3,400 miles. Still, as mentioned, they are capable of carrying nuclear payloads.

Notably, the missile fired on Thursday was equipped with a MIRV payload, and for those of you not keeping score at home, MIRV stands for Multiple Independently Targetable Reentry Vehicles, which are usually associated with nuclear weapons.

An expert in missile technology from Oslo University told The Guardian, "...whether it was an ICBM or an IRBM, the range isn't the important factor. The fact that it carried a MIRV payload is much more significant for signaling purposes and is the reason Russia opted for it. This payload is exclusively associated with nuclear-capable missiles."

Putin also issued a broader threat against Britain and the U.S., who he claimed were pushing the world towards the brink of global conflict. Putin said, quote, Russia reserves the right to use weapons against targets in countries that permit their weapons to be used against Russian targets. He added, then again, I'm the one who started this whole mess with my stupid invasion ideas, so yeah, I guess I'm responsible, end quote.

Okay, in no way was that last quote real. We all know that Putin would never take responsibility for any of his actions.

Now, this latest escalation comes during an unprecedented week of escalation between Russia, Ukraine, and the broader NATO alliance. As we've covered earlier this week on the PDB, President Biden authorized the use of long-range American-made missiles for strikes inside Russian territory on Sunday, removing restrictions that have long-limited Kyiv's offensive strike options.

Biden also gave approval on Tuesday for Ukraine to use previously banned anti-personnel landmines to blunt Russia's advances in the eastern Donetsk region. The Kremlin responded on Tuesday by officially revising their nuclear doctrine, lowering the stated threshold for the possible use of nuclear weapons.

In remarks on Thursday, Zelenskyy cast the ballistic missile launch as a sign of increasing desperation and fear on the side of the Putin regime, now that the West has unchained the Ukrainian military. He said, quote, End quote.

Coming up, the International Criminal Court, or the ICC, has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yov Golent, alleging that the pair have engaged in crimes against humanity linked to Israeli operations in Gaza. We'll discuss the implications when we return. I'll be right back.

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Welcome back to the Afternoon Bulletin. In a move likely to further inflame tensions in the Middle East, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Defense Minister Yoav Ghalat, and Hamas military commander Mohammad Diif on Thursday. Yes, that's correct. Apparently, the feckless ICC is drawing a moral equivalency between Israel and the Iranian-backed terrorist organization Hamas.

The warrants cite alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity stemming from the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. The ICC's jurisdiction over this case stems from its 2021 ruling that it has authority over the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza despite Israel's non-member status to the Justice Court.

This jurisdiction was made possible after the UN accepted Palestine's accession to the ICC's founding treaty. And the UN, of course, is the only organization more feckless than the ICC.

The ICC's prosecutor, Karim Khan, first requested the warrants in May following Hamas's 7 October 2023 terror attack that killed 1,200 Israelis and Israel's subsequent military response in Gaza. Khan also sought warrants for two other Hamas leaders at that time who have since been killed, Ismail Hanyay and Yahya Sinwar.

According to the ICC judges, there are "reasonable grounds" to believe that Netanyahu and Golland bear criminal responsibility for crimes, including the war crime of using starvation as a method of warfare, murder, and attacks on civilians. Netanyahu strongly denies the charges, with his office condemning the court's decision as "antisemitic" and comparing it to the notorious Dreyfus trial in 19th century France, a case where a Jewish army officer was falsely convicted of treason.

Gallant has yet to respond, but the former defense minister in May firmly rejected the ICC prosecutor's arrest warrant requests, condemning them as, quote, despicable for equating Israel with Hamas. Israeli President Isaac Herzog criticized the decision as, quote, outrageous, accusing the court of turning justice into a, quote, human shield for Hamas's crimes against humanity.

Deif, whose status remains uncertain after Israel claimed to have killed him in a July airstrike, faces accusations of crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder, torture, and rape, as part of what the ICC describes as a systematic attack on civilians during Hamas's 7 October terror assault on Israel. Hamas, of course, here is not a surprise, rejected the criminal allegations against Deif.

Hamas did, however, welcome the ICC's warrant on Israeli leaders, calling it, quote, an important historical precedent and urges ICC members to enforce the warrants. The terror group reiterated accusations of genocide against Israel, claims that the Israeli government, of course, firmly denies. So, you ask yourself, what happens next?

Well, the potential enforcement of these warrants depends on the 124 ICC member states, which don't include Israel and its ally, the U.S. Realistically speaking, though, there will be no enforcement of the ICC's actions. A spokesperson for the White House National Security Council stated that the U.S., quote, "...fundamentally rejects the court's decision, emphasizing, quote, that the ICC does not have jurisdiction over this matter."

Regardless, the court's actions have added yet another layer of complexity to an already volatile conflict.

And that, my friends, is the PDB Afternoon Bulletin for Thursday, 21 November. Now, if you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at pdbatthefirsttv.com. Also, in the event that you'd prefer to listen to the PDB ad-free, well, we can make that happen. Just become a premium member of the President's Daily Brief by visiting pdbpremium.com. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.