Russia can hit countries that allow Ukraine to use its missiles: Putin – National
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Thursday that Moscow had tested a new intermediate-range missile in a strike against Ukraine, and warned that it could use the weapon against countries that have allowed Kyiv to use its missiles to attack Russia.
The Russian strike on Ukraine on Thursday came after US and British missile strikes on Russian territory by Ukraine earlier this week, Putin said in a national TV address.
Putin has announced that Russia will issue warnings if it launches more such missile strikes against Ukraine to allow civilians to flee to safety.
He warned that US air defense systems would not be able to intercept Russian missiles.
Putin's announcement came hours after Ukraine said Russia had launched a medium-range ballistic missile at night in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. But American officials say that initial US tests indicated that the strike was carried out by a medium-range ballistic missile.
In this incident, two people were injured, an industrial area and a rehabilitation center for the disabled were damaged, according to local officials.
The attack comes in a week when tensions have risen repeatedly, as the US eased restrictions on Ukraine's use of American-made long-range ballistic missiles inside Russia and Russian President Vladimir Putin lowered the threshold for launching nuclear weapons.
The Ukrainian military said in a statement that the Dnipro attack was launched in Russia's Astrakhan region, on the Caspian Sea.
Get daily world news
Get the day's top news, politics, economics, and current affairs, delivered to your inbox once a day.
“Today, our crazy neighbor once again showed what he really is,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. “And how scared you are.”
Ballistic missiles can have a range of anywhere from less than 500 kilometers (310 miles) to more than 5,500 kilometers (3,400 miles) intercontinentally. “Ballistic” refers to the shape of their trajectory.
The attack came during a week of heightened tensions.
Earlier this week, the Biden administration authorized Ukraine to use US-supplied, long-range ballistic missiles to strike deep inside Russia – a move that drew an angry response from Moscow.
Days later, Ukraine fired several missiles into Russia, according to the Kremlin. On the same day, Putin signed a new doctrine that allows for a possible nuclear response even to a general attack on Russia by any nuclear-backed nation.
This doctrine was developed broadly to avoid a firm commitment to the use of nuclear weapons. In response, the West, including the US, says Russia has used propaganda and reckless nuclear behavior throughout the war to intimidate Ukraine and other nations.
They also expressed dismay at the sending of thousands of North Korean troops to Russia to fight against Ukraine.
Also on Thursday, Russia again attacked the town of Zelenskyy, Kryvyi Rih, injuring 26 people, said the head of the regional administration, Serhii Lysak. The missile strike caused damage to the administration building, at least five multi-storey residential buildings, and civilian vehicles.
Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry, in a statement, said its air defense systems shot down two British Storm Shadow missiles, six HIMARS rockets and 67 drones.
The statement did not say when and where the Storm Shadows were shot or what they meant. Earlier, Russia reported that it lowered some of the missiles on the Crimean Peninsula that were illegally seized.
More than 1,000 1,000 days into the war, Russia is at the forefront, with its large army advancing to Donetsk and Ukraine whose civilians are suffering from endless drone strikes and missiles.
Analysts and observers say the loosening of restrictions on Ukraine's use of Western missiles is unlikely to change the war, but puts the Russian military in a highly vulnerable position and could complicate strategic planning.
Putin also warned that this would mean that Russia and NATO are at war.
“It's an important and controversial step, undermining the fact that Putin was trying to make it clear that it's OK for Russia to shoot down Iranian drones and North Korean missiles in Ukraine but it's Ukraine's reckless escalation to use Western-supplied weapons against legitimate targets in Russia,” said Peter Ricketts. , a former UK national security adviser who now sits in the House of Lords.
–Associated Press writers Jill Lawless in London and Aamer Madhani, Tara Copp and Lolita C. Baldor in Washington contributed to this report.
© 2024 The Canadian Press
