MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised statement Thursday a Russian strike in Ukraine was carried out by a “ballistic missile with a non-nuclear hypersonic warhead” with a medium range.
“In response to the use of American and British long-range weapons, on November 21 of this year the Russian armed forces launched a combined strike on one of the facilities of the Ukrainian defense industry,” Putin said in a televised statement.
“In combat conditions, one of the newest Russian medium-range missile systems was also tested,” Putin said, referring to the strike on Dnipro, Ukraine. “In this case, with a ballistic missile in non-nuclear hypersonic equipment. Our missilemen called it ‘Oreshnik.’ The tests were successful. The launch goal was achieved.” Putin also claimed Ukraine has “no means” to counter the new “Oreshnik” missiles.
This comes after a US official told CNN earlier on Thursday that Russia used an “experimental medium-range” ballistic missile in an attack on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro.
A medium-range missile can travel between 1,000 kilometers and 3,000 kilometers (620 miles to 1,860 miles), according to the Center for Arms Control and Anti-Proliferation.
Russian President Vladmir Putin said Thursday that Moscow considers itself entitled to use weapons against military targets of countries that allow their weapons to be used against Russia.
Putin said the Ukrainian Armed Forces attacked targets in Russia’s Bryansk region with six US-made ATACMS missiles on Tuesday and later fired British-French Storm Shadow systems on the Kursk region. “From that moment, as we have repeatedly emphasized earlier, the regionally provoked conflict in Ukraine took on elements of a global nature,” Putin said. “Using such weapons without the direct involvement of military specialists from the countries that produce these weapons is impossible.” He added: “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, and in the event of an escalation of aggressive actions, we will respond just as decisively and in kind.”