In the week in which outgoing US President Biden has escalated the war in Ukraine by granting permission for US long-range missiles to be fired deep inside the Russian territory, Moscow has responded harshly by firing its new “Oreshnik” hypersonic ballistic missile at Kiev.
It is the first time that Russia has fired such a high-powered missile at Ukraine since the outbreak of the conflict over two years ago. In an address to the nation, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the strike was launched in response to Kiev’s use of Western-made long-range missiles.
“The Russian military has launched a state-of-the-art intermediate-range ballistic missile against a Ukrainian target,” President Putin said.
From now on, President Putin said his government would publicly announce any future strikes against the Ukrainian targets where the “Oreshnik” system is used. This would be for “humanitarian reasons,” President Putin said that the public announcements will allow the civilians to leave a potentially dangerous zone in time. President Putin added that the announcements would not affect the effectiveness of the strikes. “A ballistic missile traveling at between 2.5 and 3 kilometers per second or 10 times faster than the speed of sound cannot be countered with any existing air defense systems,” President Putin said.
He added that the hypersonic ballistic missile strike on Ukraine had non-nuclear payload, although it is capable of being loaded one. “The issue of the further deployment of short and medium-range missiles will be decided in response to the actions of the US and its satellites,” said President Putin, who added: “In case of an escalation, we will deliver a decisive mirror-like response.”
The Ukrainian Air Force had confirmed the strike by Russian forces. They said Moscow had used “an intercontinental ballistic missile”.
