Putin Confirms Use Of New Missile In Ukraine, Threatens To Hit Targets In US, UK
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia had struck Ukraine with a new intermediate-range ballistic missile, days after Kyiv used Western-supplied weapons to target locations inside Russia, reported BBC News.
The attack on the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, which took place on Thursday morning, had sparked hours of speculation about the weapon used.
In a surprise national address, Putin confirmed that the missile, capable of reaching speeds of “2.5-3 km per second,” was a “new” intermediate-range ballistic missile, codenamed Oreshnik.
This contradicted Ukraine’s earlier claims, with President Zelensky and the foreign ministry alleging the attack was carried out by an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), a claim that US officials quickly dismissed.
Had it been an ICBM, it would have marked the first use of such a missile in the war.
Putin said that the missile strike was a direct response to Ukraine’s use of US and UK long-range weapons, including ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles, which were recently authorised for use in Ukraine’s military operations.
He warned that Russia could target military facilities in the US and UK that allowed their weapons to be used against Russia.
The Russian leader also issued a stark warning to the West, stating that Moscow was “ready for any developments.”
The Pentagon’s deputy press secretary, Sabrina Singh, confirmed that the US had been notified “briefly” via Nuclear Risk Reduction channels, which are typically used for missile launch notifications.
Putin revealed that a test of a non-nuclear hypersonic version of the missile had been successful, with the target reached.
He claimed there was no way to counter such a weapon, which can strike at speeds of 10 Mach (around 2.5-3 km/s).
Putin concluded his statement with a warning to the West: “If anyone still doubts this, they shouldn’t. There will always be a response.”
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