Russia fires ballistic missile on Ukraine weapons plant
Confirming Russia had fired an Oreshnik ballistic missile at a Dnipro weapons plant, Vladimir Putin accused the US and UK of ‘pushing the entire world towards a global conflict.’
Russia’s president Vladimir Putin has accused the US and UK of pushing the West toward World War III as he confirmed a Russian strike on Dnipro, Ukraine, was carried out by a “ballistic missile with a non-nuclear hypersonic warhead.”
Late Thursday local time Mr Putin fronted Russia’s national television to declare: “In response to the use of American and British long-range weapons, on November 21 of this year the Russian armed forces launched a combined strike on one of the facilities of the Ukrainian defence industry”.
He added: “In combat conditions, one of the newest Russian medium-range missile systems was also tested, in this case, with a ballistic missile in non-nuclear hypersonic equipment. Our missilemen called it ‘Oreshnik.’ The tests were successful. The launch goal was achieved.”
United States defence officials said the missile, launched on Thursday and causing extensive damage to a Ukrainian weapons plant was an “experimental medium-range” ballistic missile and not Russia’s RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), as first feared by the Ukrainian military and some European neighbours.
While the range of the missile was not as extensive as an intercontinental missile, the payload of the weapon appeared to be similar, using multiple warheads.
Mr Putin claimed Ukraine has “no means” to counter the new “Oreshnik” missiles which he said can reach ten times the speed of sound and could not be stopped by any missile defence systems.
He added: “From this moment on ... the regional conflict in Ukraine provoked by the West acquired elements of a global nature.”
The president said Moscow could order strikes on countries whose weapons are used by Ukraine in Russia, saying: “We consider ourselves entitled to use our weapons against the military facilities of those countries that allow their weapons to be used against our facilities. “In the event of an escalation of aggressive actions, we will respond just as decisively.”
He added: “It is not Russia but the United States that has destroyed the international security system and by continuing to fight [in Ukraine], clinging to its hegemony, is pushing the entire world towards a global conflict.”
Analysts say the experimental missile deployment has sent a clear Kremlin signal to the West about a possible nuclear threat in response to Ukraine using US and British supplied missiles in the past few days to target Russian territory.
Late Thursday local time Mr Putin fronted Russia’s national television to declare: “In response to the use of American and British long-range weapons, on November 21 of this year the Russian armed forces launched a combined strike on one of the facilities of the Ukrainian defence industry.”
He added: “In combat conditions, one of the newest Russian medium-range missile systems was also tested, in this case, with a ballistic missile in non-nuclear hypersonic equipment. Our missilemen called it ‘Oreshnik.’ The tests were successful. The launch goal was achieved.”
Mr Putin also claimed Ukraine has “no means” to counter the new “Oreshnik” missiles.
Today, our insane neighbor has once again revealed its true nature—its disdain for dignity, freedom, and human life itself. And, most of all, its fear.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир ЗеленÑький (@ZelenskyyUa) November 21, 2024
Fear so overwhelming that it unleashes missile after missile, scouring the globe for more weapons—whether from Iran or North… pic.twitter.com/tEsZ0Uu1bt
Russia’s ambassador to the UK declared that Britain “is now directly involved in this war” after Ukraine earlier this week launched British supplied Storm Shadow missiles into Russian territory.
“Britain and UK is now directly involved in this war, because this firing cannot happen without NATO staff, British staff as well,” Russian ambassador Andrei Kelin said.
It comes as western officials confirm to the Wall St Journal that a high-ranking North Korean general was wounded in one of Ukraine’s strikes on Kursk this week.
More than 10,000 North Korean troops are deployed in Russia’s Kursk region as the Kremlin tries to repel Ukrainian troops who mounted an offensive there in August.
The Kremlin’s use of North Korean troops was behind President Biden approving Ukraine use of US-made long-range missiles into Russia.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said Mr Putin was using Ukraine as a weapons-testing ground, describing him as “insane.”
“All the characteristics — speed, altitude — corresponds to an intercontinental ballistic missile. Expert examinations are underway. It is obvious that Putin is using Ukraine as a testing ground,” Mr Zelensky said, referring to Russia as “our crazy neighbour.”
Various US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Russia had targeted Dnipro with “an experimental medium-range ballistic missile” on Thursday morning.
“Russia may be seeking to use this capability to try to intimidate Ukraine and its supporters … but it will not be a game changer in this conflict,” one of the defence officials told CNN.
The Ukraine air force had earlier said the missile explosions were caused by the ICBM.
Anton Geraschenko, a former Ukrainian government adviser, wrote on X: “The Ukrainian city of Dnipro became the first city in human history to be struck by an intercontinental ballistic missile. It is a historic turning point. An intercontinental ballistic missile used not on a firing range, but against a city of a million people.”
An official at 10 Downing Street had said if the ICBM had been deployed it would be grave and reckless from Russia.
France’s foreign ministry warned that it was escalatory behaviour from Putin.
This emerged as Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that a new US missile defence base in Redzikowo, Poland was considered a priority target for potential “neutralisation” using “advanced weaponry”.
Redzikowo opened earlier this month as part of the NATO missile defence system to detect and intercept Russian missiles.
“This is another frankly provocative step in a series of deeply destabilising actions by the Americans and their allies in the North Atlantic Alliance in the strategic sphere,” Ms Zakharova said.
The EU said the attack, if confirmed, would mark a “clear escalation” by Putin.
“While we’re assessing the full facts it’s obvious that such (an) attack would mark yet another clear escalation from the side of Putin,” foreign affairs spokesman Peter Stano told reporters.
The UK meanwhile said the strike would be “reckless and escalatory”.
Earlier on Thursday Moscow had said that a new American ballistic missile defence base in northern Poland was a threat to Russia and had been added to a list of western military facilities for potential destruction. The “Aegis Ashore” base, located in the town of Redzikowo near Poland’s Baltic coast, was opened last week.
“Given the nature and level of threats posed by such western military facilities, the missile defence base in Poland has long been added to the list of priority targets for potential destruction which, if necessary, can be executed with a wide range of advanced weapons,” Ms Zakharova said.
The United States has said that the base, whose construction was agreed in 2008, can intercept short to intermediate-range ballistic missiles. It was intended to offer protection against “rogue” states such as Iran and North Korea.
However, Moscow has claimed that Aegis is a threat to its nuclear deterrent and that its defensive capabilities could rapidly be adapted to launch nuclear attacks on Russia. NATO has denied the claim.
The base is part of a wider NATO missile shield that also includes sites in Romania as well as US navy destroyers at a naval base in Spain and an early warning radar in Turkey.
Moscow’s warning followed Ukraine’s launch on Wednesday of 12 British Storm Shadow missiles into the Kursk region of western Russia. Ukraine seized parts of the border region in August and is fighting off a counteroffensive by Russian troops backed by thousands of North Korean soldiers.
Photographs showing fragments of metal with the words “Storm Shadow” stencilled on them were published on Telegram by Russian military bloggers, who claimed they had been found by residents in the village of Marino.
Ukrainian media reported that the missiles may have targeted an underground command post manned by North Korean and Russian officers.
A British government source confirmed to The Times that the missiles had been fired into Russia, although they would not provide details.
On Thursday Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, said it would only prolong inevitable Ukrainian defeat.
He told GB News: “Everybody still seems to think that we give Ukraine enough weaponry that somehow they’re going to win this war.
“And yet, when I get outside of Westminster and talk to ordinary folk, I’ve not met anybody in the last month who thinks Ukraine is ever going to win. And I do wonder, right at this time whether it’s the wise thing to do.”
Farage, a friend of Donald Trump, said the president-elect was “committed to negotiating a peace settlement” but questioned whether the use of British-made weapons inside Russia would “make it more difficult” to agree a settlement with Putin.
The strikes came a day after Ukraine’s first use of American long-range Atacms missiles on Russian soil, the authorisation for which was given by Washington after months of vacillation.
Britain had been ready to grant permission for the use of its Storm Shadows but was waiting for President Joe Biden to make a decision. The British-made weapon relies in part on US navigational data to hit its target.
John Healey, the defence secretary, was asked about the missile strikes in parliament and did not deny that they had taken place. “We as a nation and a government are doubling down on our support for Ukraine, and determined to do more,” said Healey, who confirmed that he had a call with the Ukrainian defence minister on Tuesday.
Storm Shadow is an Anglo-French air-to-surface cruise missile that delivers a 990lb warhead over a maximum range of about 155 miles. Its use had until now been restricted to targets in occupied Ukraine, which included the naval headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea fleet struck with devastating effect in September last year.
For more than a year Ukraine pleaded for permission to strike beyond the border at ammunition depots, air bases and oil refineries deep inside Russia, thereby disrupting supply lines.
The White House has been nervous about the potential for escalation that the use of western weaponry against Russian territory could pose.
Moscow’s deployment of some 10,000 North Korean soldiers, however, is understood to have persuaded Biden to give the green light as a means of deterring Pyongyang from further involvement in the war. North Korea, which this year signed a strategic alliance with Russia, has one of the largest standing armies in the world.
President Zelensky warned this week that as many as 100,000 of its troops could be sent to Ukraine, where they are being used to buttress Russian efforts to retake Kursk, about 1,000 sq km of which Ukraine captured this summer. Putin has previously said that the use of American and British-made missiles inside Russia’s borders would be tantamount to NATO entering into a direct conflict with Moscow.
The US said it would also soon provide Ukraine with antipersonnel landmines to bolster its defences. Analysis by the Institute for the Study of War found that Moscow has captured six times more territory this year than it did throughout last year.
With AFP
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