Vladimir Putin’s military threatened retaliation after claiming Ukraine targeted a military airfield in Russia with six US-made long-range ATACMS ballistic missiles.
The latest clash prompted speculation that Moscow may launch another experimental intermediate-range hypersonic missile at Ukraine.
Russia’s defence ministry said two of the missiles fired by Ukraine were shot down by a Pantsir missile defence system and the rest were destroyed by electronic warfare.
“On the morning of December 11, 2024, the Kyiv regime launched a missile strike with Western precision weapons at the Taganrog military airfield in the Rostov region,” the defence ministry said.
“This attack by Western long-range weapons will not go unanswered and appropriate measures will be taken,” it said.
Russia fired a new intermediate-range hypersonic ballistic missile known as “Oreshnik”, or Hazel Tree, at Ukraine on November 21 in what President Putin said was a direct response to strikes on Russia by Ukrainian forces with US and British missiles.
Joe Biden gave Kyiv consent to fire the West-supplied long range missiles, including the British Storm Shadows which use US navigation data systems, into Russia after thousands of North Korean troops were deployed to boost Putin’s war machine.
Western officials recently said that the North Korean troops were so poorly trained that Russian military chiefs are yet to send them into battle.
They are expected to fill secondary positions to allow more Russian troops to move forward to try to recapture the swathe of the Kursk region of Russia seized by Ukrainian forces in a surprise attack in the summer.
A US official said on Wednesday that Russia could launch another hypersonic ballistic missile in Ukraine in the coming days, but Washington does not consider the Oreshnik weapon a game-changer in the war.
After approval from the administration of outgoing US president Mr Biden, Ukraine struck Russia with six US-made ATACMS on November 19 and with British Storm Shadow missiles and US-made HIMARS on November 21.
Putin, after those attacks, said that the Ukraine war was escalating towards a global conflict after the United States and Britain allowed Ukraine to hit Russia with their weapons, and warned the West that Moscow could strike back.
The war is entering what some Russian and Western officials say could be its final and most dangerous phase as Moscow’s forces advance at their fastest pace since the early weeks of the conflict.
President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office next month, has pushed for a ceasefire and negotiations to end the war quickly, leaving Washington’s long-term support for Ukraine in question.
Putin is seen to be trying to grab as much land as possible before Trump enters the White House in January, and Kyiv’s allies are boosting military support to try to stop the Russian advances.
Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine has left tens of thousands of dead, displaced millions and triggered the biggest crisis in relations between Moscow and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
