Ukraine war: Kremlin wants missile strikes to be seen as a warning

Russia wants the firing of a new medium-range missile at Ukraine to be seen as a warning. “The Russian side has clearly demonstrated its capabilities,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow. The shelling of the Ukrainian city of Dnipro is a result of “reckless decisions” by Western countries. They supplied Ukraine with missiles and allowed them to be used against Russian territory. Russia had to react to this.

“The contours of the further response in the event that our concerns are not taken into account have also been clearly outlined,” Peskov said, according to the Interfax news agency. According to videos, the rocket released six warheads over Dnipro. These were not nuclear-loaded, as Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin said in a video speech on Thursday. However, there was also the threat that Russia could also equip the missile with the type designation Oreshnik with nuclear weapons.

Peskov said he assumed Putin’s message had reached the US government. The Kremlin spokesman confirmed that Washington had been informed shortly before the rocket launch. This was done via an automated system. In recent days, Ukraine has reportedly fired at military targets in Russia with ATACMS missiles from the USA and Storm Shadow cruise missiles from Great Britain.