Putin
says Russia will use experimental missile again after Ukraine strike
Ukrainian
president calls testing of nuclear-capable weapon on his country’s territory an
‘international crime’
Andrew Roth
in Washington
Sat 23 Nov
2024 03.25 GMT
Vladimir
Putin has vowed to launch more strikes using an experimental intermediate-range
ballistic missile as Ukraine decried the testing of the nuclear-capable weapon
on its territory as an “international crime”.
Speaking at
a defence conference on Friday, Putin contested US claims that Russia possessed
only a “handful” of the high-speed ballistic missiles, saying that the military
had enough to continue to test them in “combat conditions” and would put them
into serial production.
“The tests
[of the missile system] have passed successfully, and I congratulate you all on
that,” Putin said, according to the Interfax news agency. “As has been said
already, we’ll be continuing these tests, including in combat conditions,
depending on the situation and nature of threats being posed to Russia’s
security, especially considering that we have enough of such items, such
systems ready for use in stock.”
At the same
conference, the Russian strategic missile forces commander Sergei Karakayev
said that the missiles could strike targets throughout Europe.
“Depending
on the objectives and the range of this weapon, it can strike targets on the
entire territory of Europe, which sets it apart from other types of long-range
precision-guided weapons,” Karakayev said.
Russia
launched the experimental missile, which US officials described as a modified
design based on Russia’s longer-range RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic
missile, against a rocket factory in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. Both
Vladimir Putin and US officials have said the missile is capable of carrying a
nuclear warhead.
US officials
have decried Putin’s use of a nuclear-capable warhead but denied that it is a
“gamechanger” in the war between Russia and Ukraine, adding that Russia
possessed just a handful of the missiles, which its military has named
Oreshnik, or Hazel.
Volodymyr
Zelenskyy called Russia’s use of an experimental ballistic missile in a strike
on Ukraine an “international crime” as he appealed on Friday to countries
around the world including the global south to condemn Russia’s latest
escalation.
In an
address on social media, Zelenskyy said he had already directed his defence
minister to hold consultations with allies to secure new air defence systems
that could “protect lives from the new risks” of the intermediate-range
missiles.
“Using
another country not just for terror but also to test new weapons for terror is
clearly an international crime,” the Ukrainian president said.
Nato and
Ukraine will hold emergency talks on Tuesday to discuss the attack.
The conflict
is “entering a decisive phase”, the Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, said on
Friday, and “taking on very dramatic dimensions”.
Ukraine’s
parliament cancelled a session as security was tightened after Thursday’s
Russian strike on the military facility in Dnipro.
Aside from
western partners, Zelenskyy called on China and members of the global south, to
condemn the strike, saying that the leaders “call for restraint every time, and
in response they invariably receive some new escalation from Moscow”.
China and
Brazil have proposed a joint “peace plan” that Ukraine has said only emboldens
Russia by providing diplomatic cover for the continued assault on Ukraine.
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