Missile strike a warning to ‘reckless’ West: Russia
Dmitry Antonov |
A strike on Ukraine using a newly developed hypersonic ballistic missile was designed as a message to the West that Moscow will respond to their “reckless” decisions and actions in support of Ukraine, Russia says.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov issued the warning a day after President Vladimir Putin said Moscow had fired the new missile – the Oreshnik or Hazel Tree – at a Ukrainian military facility.
“The main message is that the reckless decisions and actions of Western countries that produce missiles, supply them to Ukraine and subsequently participate in strikes on Russian territory cannot remain without a reaction from the Russian side,” Peskov told reporters on Friday.
“The Russian side has clearly demonstrated its capabilities, and the contours of further retaliatory actions in the event that our concerns are not taken into account have been quite clearly outlined.”
Peskov said Russia had not been obliged to warn the United States about the strike, but had informed the US 30 minutes before the launch anyway.
President Vladimir Putin remained open to dialogue, Peskov said, but he said the outgoing administration of US President Joe Biden “prefers to continue down the path of escalation”.
Putin said on Thursday that Russia had fired the new missile after Ukraine, with approval from the Biden administration, struck Russia with six US-made ATACMS missiles on Tuesday and with British Storm Shadow cruise missiles and US-made HIMARS on Thursday.
He said this meant the Ukraine war had now “acquired elements of a global character”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said Russia’s use of the new missile amounted to “a clear and severe escalation” in the nearly three-year war and called for strong worldwide condemnation.
Kyiv initially suggested Russia fired an intercontinental ballistic missile, a weapon designed for long-distance nuclear strikes and never before used in war.
But US officials and NATO echoed Putin’s description of the weapon as an intermediate range ballistic missile, which has a shorter range of 3000-5500km.
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Russia likely possessed a handful of the “experimental” missiles used in Thursday’s strike.
Ukraine’s air force said the missile targeted Dnipro in central-eastern Ukraine and was fired from the Russian region of Astrakhan, more than 700km away.
Russia also fired a Kinzhal hypersonic missile and seven Kh-101 cruise missiles, six of which were shot down, the Ukrainian air force said.
Tensions have spiked in the past several days. Ukraine fired US and British missiles at targets inside Russia this week despite Moscow’s warnings that it would see such action as a major escalation.
US President Joe Biden lifted restrictions on such strikes two months before he leaves office and Donald Trump returns to the White House.
Washington sources familiar with the matter said the deployment of North Korean troops to aid Russia prompted Biden’s decision ahead of Trump’s second presidency.
Trump has said he will end the war, without saying how, and has criticised billions of dollars in aid for Ukraine under Biden.
The warring sides believe Trump is likely to push for peace talks and are trying to attain strong positions before negotiations.
with AP
Reuters
