Putin threatens the West: The targets are not just in Ukraine

Russia’s war of aggression has escalated further with a new missile strike against Ukraine and threats from President Vladimir Putin against Kiev’s Western supporters. The Kremlin chief confirmed that a newly developed Russian medium-range missile hit the Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Thursday morning.

In a video speech he called the new system Oreshnik. It operates at hypersonic speeds and cannot be intercepted, he said. This could not initially be independently verified. Six individual warheads struck Dnipro. They were not of a nuclear nature, Putin said.

He spoke of a reaction to the fact that the USA and other countries had allowed Ukraine to use long-range weapons against Russian territory. “We have repeatedly emphasized that the regional conflict in Ukraine provoked by the West has acquired elements of a global character,” Putin said. At the same time, he called the new system Moscow’s answer to the USA wanting to station medium-range missiles in Europe and the Pacific.

On the 1002nd day of the war, he threatened not only Ukraine, but also its supporters with possible rocket attacks. “We believe we have the right to use our weapons against military objects of countries that allow their weapons to be used against objects in our country,” he said. “In the event of an escalation of aggressive actions, we will act decisively in a mirror image.”

In recent days, Ukraine has reportedly fired US-made ATACMS missiles and British Storm Shadow cruise missiles at military targets in Russia.

A U.S. government official said Russia probably only has a handful of these experimental missiles. Ukraine has already survived attacks from rockets with much larger explosive charges. The Moscow attack was intended primarily to deter Ukraine and its supporters and to attract public attention, the official said. The USA recently informed Kiev and its allies about a possible use of the new missile.

After the attack on Dnipro, there was initially speculation as to whether it could have been an intercontinental ballistic missile. The Oreshnik, which can in principle also be equipped with nuclear warheads, was probably fired from the Russian region of Astrakhan on the Caspian Sea – around 800 kilometers from the point of impact in Dnipro. Some military observers called it a warning shot but also a possible dress rehearsal for a real nuclear strike.

Dictator Putin spoke of testing the missile under combat conditions. If the Oreshnik is tested further, Russia will warn the civilian population so that they can leave the danger zone, he announced. He wasn’t talking about a nuclear attack. However, experts see the use of several warheads in Dnipro as an indication that the rocket can technically also be equipped with nuclear weapons. There is no data on the new rocket yet, and the type designation has not yet appeared.

Unauthenticated videos circulating on social media showed bright particles falling over a nighttime city without subsequent explosions. It was suspected that these six empty warheads could belong to an deployed intercontinental ballistic missile.

“All characteristics – speed, altitude – are those of an ICBM,” said Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky. “It is clear that Putin is using Ukraine as a testing ground.” What was striking was that there was no reaction from NATO. The launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile should have triggered a red alert everywhere, said independent military analyst Jan Matveyev.

The United Nations spoke of a worrying development: “All of this is going in the wrong direction. What we want to see is that all parties take urgent steps to de-escalate the situation,” said UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric in New York.

Great Britain’s Defense Minister John Healey did not comment on the exact type of missile, but nevertheless sharply criticized Putin, whom he accused of escalation. He has massively intensified air attacks on Ukraine in recent weeks and sent thousands of North Korean soldiers to the front. “And there are unconfirmed media reports today that Russia has fired a new ballistic missile into Ukraine, which we understand they have been preparing for months,” Healey told the Defense Committee.