Putin confirms launch of new ballistic missile against Ukraine

Tensions between the West and Russia are rising after Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed the launch of a new ballistic missile against Ukraine, saying the war has taken on ‘elements of a global conflict’. 

As Putin said in a speech to the nation after days of escalating conflict with Ukraine, the attack was carried out with an Oreshnik medium-range missile without a nuclear charge, which was launched at a facility of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex. 

‘In response to the use of American and British long-range weapons on 21 November this year, the Russian Armed Forces launched a combined strike against one of the facilities of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex,’ the Russian leader said, adding that ‘one of the new Russian medium-range missile systems’ was tested in combat conditions.

Putin further argued that the war that began in February 2022 has taken on ‘global’ aspects due to long-range attacks from Ukraine. ‘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,’ Putin stressed, assuring that, in the event of an escalation of aggressive actions, they will respond ‘with the same decisiveness’. 

The Russian leader described the Oreshnik as a ‘ballistic missile’ deployed in this case ‘in a hypersonic non-nuclear configuration’. Its launch, according to Moscow, has been successful and has reached its target. 

‘We have always preferred, and are now ready, to resolve all disputed issues by peaceful means, but we are also prepared for any developments. If anyone doubts this, they are wrong. There will always be an answer,’ Putin stressed. 

In the message, Putin also confirmed the recent attacks on Russian territory with American ATACMS and British Storm Shadow long-range missiles, which targeted military infrastructure in the Bryansk and Kursk border regions. According to the Russian leader, the country's anti-aircraft defences repelled these attacks and prevented the enemy from reaching their targets. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged the international community to ‘react’ to the attack, which he said increased the ‘scale and brutality’ of the war.

‘The world must react. At the moment, there is no strong reaction,’ Zelensky lamented in a message on social media. ‘We must react. We must put pressure. We must push Russia towards real peace, which is only possible through force,’ he added.