Russia Ukraine war: Putin warns West as ‘new missile’ fired

Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated that an assault by his forces on the japanese Ukrainian metropolis of Dnipro on Thursday morning was carried out utilizing “a new conventional intermediate-range missile”.

He stated that the missile, codenamed Oreshnik, was a response to the use by Ukraine of US and UK long-range weaponry to hit targets inside Russia.

Putin added that Russia may assault army services of these nations which allowed their weapons for use for this objective.

The US and the UK authorised the usage of US ATACMS and UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles this week, in a serious change of coverage.

Describing the assault on Dnipro, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated earlier that the missile had the traits of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), whilst Western officers solid doubt on this idea.

Speaking on his Telegram channel, Zelensky stated Putin was utilizing Ukraine as a “testing ground”, and Russia was “so terrified” that it was “already using new weapons”.

The US National Security Council, in the meantime, stated “an experimental medium-range ballistic missile” had been used in opposition to Ukraine, including that Russia most likely solely possessed a handful of those weapons and that they might not be a sport changer within the warfare.

Putin stated a “test” was efficiently carried out on a non-nuclear hypersonic model of a ballistic missile and that the “target was reached”.

“In response to the use of American and British long-range weaponry, on 21 November this year, the Russian armed forces carried out a combined strike on one of Ukraine’s military-industrial complex sites,” he stated.

There is not any manner of counteracting this weapon, which assaults targets at a velocity of 10 Mach, or 2.5-3km/s, he stated.

And he warned the West that Russia was “ready for any developments. If anyone still doubts this, they shouldn’t. There will always be a response”.

Matthew Savill, director of military sciences at Rusi, a think tank, said available information about the Russian missile suggests something with a longer range than the Iskanders used so far in the conflict, which have a range of up to 500km (311 miles).

Intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs) – which Putin appears to have been describing – generally have ranges of between 3,000 and 5,500km.

Savill says the use of such a weapon may not have huge military significance but is symbolically important, coming on the back of Russia’s revised nuclear doctrine which many see as a lowering of the threshold for the use of such weapons.

It is, he says, a not so subtle reminder that Russia has a wider arsenal of different and larger missile types and is ready to develop more.

Putin’s announcement comes as the conflict in Ukraine – which marked its 1,000th day on Tuesday – appears to be entering a new, dangerous phase.

Last Sunday US President Joe Biden gave Ukraine the go-ahead to use long-range Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) to strike inside Russia, and two days later they were launched into Russia’s Bryansk region.

On Wednesday, Ukraine was reported to have used UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles against Russian targets. On the same day, Biden also agreed to give Ukraine anti-personnel landmines.

The Western moves were apparently in response to Moscow’s deployment of North Korean troops as it prepares for an offensive aimed at driving Ukrainian troops out of a small area they have occupied in Russia’s Kursk region.

But additionally they come as Donald Trump prepares to return to the US presidency in two months’ time.

Trump has promised to end the US involvement in wars and instead use taxpayers’ money to improve Americans’ lives. He has said he will bring the Russia-Ukraine war to an end within 24 hours, without saying how.

Also this week Putin – seemingly reacting to these moves – ratcheted up the tension still further by loosening the conditions of use for Russia’s nuclear weapons.

And Russia stepped up air strikes in opposition to Ukrainian infrastructure, as its floor forces continue their advance in eastern Ukraine.