Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday the conflict in Ukraine had the characteristics of a “global” war and did not rule out attacks on Western countries.
The Kremlin strongman spoke after a day of nervousness as Russia test-fired a new-generation intermediate-range missile in Ukraine – which Putin signaled was capable of releasing a nuclear payload.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the attack as escalating the “scale and brutality” of the war by a “crazy neighbor”, while Kiev’s main supporter the United States said Russia was guilty of escalating the conflict “at every turn”. . ,
Medium-range missiles typically have a reach of up to 5,500 kilometers (3,400 miles) – enough to carry out Putin’s threat to attack the West.
In a scathing address to the nation, Russia’s president criticized Ukraine’s allies for allowing Kiev to use Western-supplied weapons to attack targets on Russian territory and warned of retaliation.
In recent days Ukraine has fired missiles supplied by the US and Britain at Russian territory for the first time, escalating already high tensions in the brutal nearly three-year conflict.
Putin said, “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.”
The US-deployed Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) and British Storm Shadow payloads were shot down by Moscow’s air defences, he said, adding: “The targets the enemy clearly set were not achieved”. .
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, however, said Moscow had informed Washington about the missile launch half an hour before it was fired through the automated nuclear de-escalation hotline, as quoted in state media.
He updated his nuclear doctrine this week after previously saying Russia was doing everything it could to avoid nuclear conflict.
White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that Washington saw no need for the United States to modify its nuclear stance in response.
‘Reckless behaviour’
Ukraine previously accused Russia of firing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) for the first time in history – a claim later rejected by Washington.
The Ukrainian Air Force said Moscow had launched the missiles as part of a barrage toward Dnipro, where local officials said an infrastructure facility was hit and two civilians were injured.
Putin said Russia has tested one of the latest Russian missile systems, named “Oreshnik”, in a combat situation.
Criticizing the global reaction to the attack – “the final proof that Russia definitely does not want peace” – Zelensky warned that other countries could also become Putin’s targets.
“It is necessary to urge Russia for true peace, which is possible only through force,” the Ukrainian leader said in his evening address.
“Otherwise, there will be continued Russian attacks, threats and destabilization, not only against Ukraine.”
The Dnipro attack came just days after several foreign embassies in the Ukrainian capital were temporarily closed, citing the threat of a mass strike.
“This is another example of Russia’s reckless behavior,” a spokesman for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told reporters.
Stephane Dujarric, a spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said the new missile deployment was “another worrying and worrying development”, warning that the war was “going in the wrong direction”.
Yet a US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, downplayed the threat, saying Russia has “probably only a handful of these” experimental missiles.
UK ‘directly involved’
The head of the Dnipropetrovsk region, where the city of Dnipro is located, said Russian aerial bombardment had damaged a rehabilitation center and several homes as well as an industrial enterprise.
“Two people were injured – a 57-year-old man was treated at the scene and a 42-year-old woman was hospitalized,” said officer Sergei Lysak.
Russia and Ukraine have increased their use of long-range missiles in recent days since Washington gave Kiev permission to use its ATACMS against military targets inside Russia – a long-standing Ukrainian request.
Meanwhile, British media reported on Wednesday that Kiev had launched British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles at targets in Russia after getting the green signal from London.
With ranges of 300 and 250 kilometers respectively, the reach of both missile systems is much less than the experimental intermediate-range system fielded by Russia.
Russia’s envoy to London said on Thursday it meant Britain was now “directly involved” in the Ukraine war, with Andrei Kelin telling Sky News that without the support of Britain and NATO “this shootout cannot happen “.
But the White House’s Jean-Pierre countered that Russia was behind the rising tensions, pointing to the reported deployment of thousands of North Korean troops to help Moscow fight the Ukrainian invasion in the Kursk region bordering Russia.
“At every turn the escalation is coming from Russia,” Jean-Pierre said. He said the United States had warned Moscow against involving “any other country in another part of the world,” referring to Pyongyang.
Kyiv in retreat
The Defense Ministry in Moscow said Thursday that its air-defense systems had shot down two Storm Shadows, without specifying whether they had flown over Russian territory or over occupied Ukraine.
The missile surge comes at a critical moment for Ukraine on the ground, as its defenses are buckling under Russian pressure along the vast border line.
Russia claimed deep advances into the war-torn Donetsk region on Thursday, announcing that its forces had captured another village close to Kurakhov, closing in on the town after months of relentless advances.
Moscow’s Defense Ministry said Russian forces had captured the small village of Dalne, five kilometers (three miles) south of Kurakhov.
Lysak, the governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, said 26 people were wounded in another attack on the town of Kryvyi Rih, where Zelensky was born.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
