Vladimir Putin has claimed Moscow launched a new hypersonic ballistic missile against Ukraine in response to strikes by Kyiv inside Russia using UK and US long-range missiles.
The Russian leader said the Oreshnik, or Hazel, medium-range missile had been used in some of its latest strikes. Earlier, Ukraine’s air force said Russia had fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in an attack on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro – the first recorded use of the weapon during the war.
Ukrainian air defence forces said the missile – which has a range of more than 3,400 miles and can be used to carry nuclear warheads – was fired from Russia’s Astrakhan region, on the Caspian Sea. However, American officials said an initial US assessment indicated the strike was carried out with an intermediate-range ballistic missile which cannot travel so far, something backed by Putin’s remarks.
“In combat conditions, a test was carried out of one of the latest Russian intermediate-range missile systems,” Putin said.
The incident comes amid fast-rising tensions between the West and Russia, after Ukraine fired both British Storm Shadow missiles and American ATACMS missiles into Russia after being granted permission to do so this week.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky claimed the missile fired on Thursday “matches the speed and altitude” of an ICBM, adding that Kyiv’s “crazy neighbour once again showed what he really is, and how afraid he is”.
Kyiv’s air force said the attack targeted enterprises and critical infrastructure but has not specified which type of missile was used.
Downing Street condemned Putin for further escalating the conflict by using a ballistic missile against the city of Dnipro. Putin suggested the missile could also be used to strike Kyiv’s allies who have given Ukraine permission to use Western-supplied weapons inside Russia.
Putin’s remarks came hours after Russia’s foreign ministry claimed that a new US ballistic missile defence base in northern Poland is “a priority target for potential neutralisation”.
Russian spokesperson Maria Zakharova said: “Given the nature and level of threats posed by such Western military facilities, the missile defence base in Poland has long been added to the list of priority targets for potential destruction, which, if necessary, can be executed with a wide range of advanced weapons.”
The US base at Redzikowo is part of a broader Nato missile shield, dubbed “Aegis Ashore”, which the alliance says can intercept short- to intermediate-range ballistic missiles.
Poland’s foreign ministry spokesperson Pawel Wronski said there were no nuclear missiles at the base, which was purely equipped for defence.
“It is a base that serves the purpose of defence, not attack,” Mr Wronski said. ‘Such threats will certainly serve as an argument to strengthen Poland’s and Nato’s air defences, and should also be considered by the United States.”
The Nato missile shield includes sites in Poland and Romania, as well as US Navy destroyers at a naval base in Spain and an early warning radar system in Turkey, according to Nato.
On Wednesday, images circulated online appearing to show fragments of Storm Shadow missiles in Russia’s Kursk region – the border area into which Ukrainian forces staged a surprise assault in August. Around 50,000 Russian troops, including about 10,000 soldiers from North Korea have amassed in Kursk to try and retake territory currently held by Ukraine. The use of North Korean troops in Kursk is believed to have played into the decision from the US and UK to allow Ukraine to fire long-range missiles into Russia.
On Thursday, at a Commons Defence Committee meeting, UK defence secretary John Healey said he “won’t be drawn on the operational details of the conflict”.
He said MPs should “be in no doubt that the UK government is stepping up our support for Ukraine, determined to continue doubling down our support for Ukraine”.
Also on Thursday, Russia struck Mr Zelensky’s home city of Kryvyi Rih, wounding 26 people, said the head of regional administration, Serhii Lysak. The missile strike caused damage to an administrative building, at least five multi-story residential buildings, and civilian vehicles.
The Russian defence ministry, meanwhile, claimed in a statement that its air defence systems shot down two British-made Storm Shadow missiles, six HIMAR rockets, and 67 drones.
The statement didn’t say when or where the Storm Shadows were shot down or what they were targeting. Russia earlier reported downing some of the missiles over the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula.
Analysts and observers say that the loosening of restrictions on Ukraine’s use of Western missiles is unlikely to change the course of the war, but it puts the Russian army in a more vulnerable position and complicates the logistics that are crucial in warfare.
Peter Ricketts, a former UK national security adviser who now sits in the House of Lords, said: “It is an important move and it pulls against, undermines the narrative that Putin had been trying to establish that it was fine for Russia to rain down Iranian drones and North Korean missiles on Ukraine but a reckless escalation for Ukraine to use Western-supplied weapons at legitimate targets in Russia.”
Reuters contributed to this report
