Photo: kremlin.ru
Vladimir Putin confirmed in an evening address published by the Kremlin on Thursday that Moscow had struck Ukraine with a medium-range ballistic missile.
Putin said that the Russian army had targeted “a defence industry facility” in Dnipro, a city in central Ukraine, on Thursday morning with an Oreshnik medium-range ballistic missile equipped with a non-nuclear hypersonic warhead.
“No existing missile defence systems”, including those in Europe, will be able to intercept Russian ballistic missiles like the Oreshnik, Putin said.
The combat testing of the Oreshnik was carried out “in response to NATO’s aggressive actions against Russia”, namely the attacks on military facilities in Russia’s Bryansk and Kursk regions with Western-made ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles, Putin continued.
“We will decide on the further deployment of medium- and shorter-range missiles depending on the actions of the United States and its satellites,” Putin stressed, adding that Russia was “entitled” to use its weapons “against the military facilities of those countries that allow the use of their weapons” against Russian targets.
Moscow prefers to resolve “all contentious issues by peaceful means”, Putin claimed, noting however that “there will always be a response” should the situation escalate.
“For humanitarian reasons”, Russia will warn Ukrainian civilians to “leave the danger zones” should Moscow target other facilities in the country with ballistic missiles, Putin said.
The Ukrainian Air Force reported earlier on Thursday that Russia had launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on the city of Dnipro. A US official later told Reuters that Moscow had launched a medium-range ballistic missile, and not an ICBM, contradicting Kyiv’s initial reports.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Putin was “using Ukraine as a testing ground” in a video address on Thursday. “Today, our insane neighbour has once again shown what they truly are, and how they despise dignity, freedom, and human life itself,” Zelensky added.
