Editor-DN
Dnipro:
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that the Ukraine conflict has the characteristics of a “global” war and did not rule out attacks on Western countries.
The Kremlin strongman spoke after a nerve-wracking day after Russia tested a new-generation intermediate-range missile over Ukraine – which Putin indicated was capable of delivering a nuclear payload. .
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called the strike a “significant sign of the escalation in the “scale and brutality” of the war by a “crazy neighbor”, while Kiev’s main backer the US said Russia was “at every turn” in the conflict. is responsible for increasing .
Intermediate-range missiles typically have a range of 5,500 kilometers (3,400 miles) — enough to meet Putin’s threat to attack the West.
In a defiant address to the nation, Russia’s president criticized Ukraine’s allies for allowing Kiev to use Western-supplied weapons to hit targets on Russian soil, and warned of retaliation.
In recent days, Ukraine fired US- and UK-supplied missiles into Russian territory for the first time, escalating already high tensions in the nearly three-year-old conflict.
“We have the right to use our weapons against the military installations of countries that allow their weapons to be used against our installations,” Putin said.
He said that the American Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) and British Storm Shadow payloads were shot down by Moscow’s air defenses, adding: “The targets that the enemy had clearly set were not achieved. Done”.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, however, said Moscow alerted Washington to the missile’s firing half an hour before the launch via an automated nuclear de-escalation hotline, in remarks quoted by state media.
He previously said Russia was doing everything it could to avoid a nuclear conflict, updating its nuclear doctrine this week.
White House spokeswoman Karen Jean-Pierre told reporters that Washington saw no need to modify its US nuclear posture in response.
‘careless attitude’
Ukraine had previously accused Russia of firing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) for the first time in history – a charge Washington later denied.
Ukraine’s air force said Moscow had launched the missile as part of a barrage toward the Dnipro, where local officials said an infrastructure installation was hit and two civilians were injured.
Putin said that Russia has tested one of the most advanced Russian missile systems called “Orshank” in combat conditions.
Criticizing the global response to the strike — “definitive proof that Russia definitely does not want peace” — Zelensky warned that other countries could also become targets for Putin.
“Russia must push for real peace, which is possible only through force,” the Ukrainian leader said in his evening address.
“Otherwise, there will be continued Russian attacks, threats and instability, not just against Ukraine.”
The attack on Dnipro comes days after several foreign embassies were temporarily closed in the Ukrainian capital, citing the threat of a mass strike.
“This is yet another example of reckless behavior on the part of Russia,” 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 alarming and worrying development”, warning that the war was “going in the wrong direction”.
Yet Russia has “probably only a handful” of these experimental missiles, a US official said on condition of anonymity.
UK ‘directly involved’
The head of the Dnipropetrovsk region, where the city of Dnipro is located, said Russian airstrikes damaged a rehabilitation center and several houses, as well as an industrial plant.
“Two people were injured — a 57-year-old man was treated at the scene and a 42-year-old woman was hospitalized,” said official Sergiy Lysak.
Russia and Ukraine have increased the use of long-range missiles in recent days since Washington allowed Kiev to use its ATACMS against military targets inside Russia — a long-standing Ukrainian request. .
Meanwhile, British media reported on Wednesday that Kiev had fired British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles at targets in Russia after receiving the green light from London.
With ranges of 300 and 250 km, respectively, the range of both missile systems is much shorter than the experimental intermediate range system being fired by Russia.
Russia’s ambassador to London said on Thursday that this meant Britain was “now directly involved” in the war in Ukraine, Andrey Kalin told Sky News that “this shooting cannot happen without the support of the UK and NATO.” “.
But the White House’s Jean-Pierre countered that Russia was behind the escalating tensions, pointing to the alleged deployment of thousands of North Korean troops to Russia’s border region of Kursk to help Moscow deal with a Ukrainian offensive.
“At every turn, tensions are coming from Russia,” Jean-Pierre said, adding that the United States had warned Moscow against “engaging any other country in any other part of the world” — Pyongyang. Referring to Yang
In Kaif Itikaf
The Defense Ministry in Moscow said on Thursday that its air defense system shot down two tornadoes, without specifying whether they came over Russian territory or occupied Ukraine.
The missile surge comes at a critical moment on the ground for Ukraine, as its defenses buckle under Russian pressure on a stretched frontline.
Russia claimed a deep advance into the war-torn region of Donetsk, announcing on Thursday that its forces had captured another village near Kurakhov, sealing off the town after months of steady advances.
Moscow’s defense ministry said Russian forces had captured the small village of Dalne, five kilometers (three miles) south of Korakhov.
Lysak, the governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, said another attack on the town of Krivy Reg, where Zelenskiy was born, wounded 26 people.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
