Putin praises the new Russian missile and issues a dire warning to NATO

In this image taken from a video released by the Russian Presidential Press Service, Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses the nation at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, November 21, 2024. (Russian Presidential Press Service via AP)

The new ballistic missile fired by Russia struck a military-industrial facility in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, but its real mission was to deliver a deadly new message to NATO.

Hours after Thursday’s attack sparked a debate over whether the Ukrainian factory was hit by an intercontinental ballistic missile, President Vladimir Putin made a rare and surprising appearance on Russian television to clear up the mystery.

He described it as a new intermediate-range ballistic missile that raced toward its target at ten times the speed of sound.

“The modern air defense systems that exist in the world and the anti-missile defenses created by the Americans in Europe cannot intercept such missiles,” Putin stated in an icy and threatening tone.

The attack marked the first time such a missile had been used in war – or any conflict for that matter.

The dramatic events came in a week of rising tensions as Ukraine attacked targets in Russia with longer-range American-made missiles after the US relaxed restrictions on their use and Putin responded by lowering the threshold for using Moscow’s nuclear arsenal. decrease.

What is the new rocket?

Putin said the missile was called “Oreshnik,” which means “hazelnut tree” in Russian, and that this first combat test of it “was successful.”

He said in July that Russia would begin producing intermediate-range missiles to “mirror” U.S. plans to deploy such weapons. In his speech on Thursday, he said Russia developed Oreshnik in response to US development and deployment of missiles with similar range.

Intermediate-range missiles, or IRBMs, can fly between 500 and 5,500 kilometers (310 to 3,400 miles). Ukrainian military officials said the missile was launched from Russia’s Astrakhan region on the Caspian Sea, 800 kilometers (500 miles) to the east.

Although Russia has launched cruise missiles at Ukraine from even greater distances, the new intermediate-range missile marked the first use of this type of ground-launched ballistic missiles, which can carry a much heavier conventional payload and can also be equipped with multiple nuclear warheads. .

Putin boasted that the missile, the latest in Russia’s arsenal of hypersonic weapons, will reach its target at a speed of Mach 10, rendering Western missile defenses useless.

Matthew Savill, director of military sciences at the Royal United Services Institute, noted that the missile used Thursday has a range “far greater than anything seen in this conflict and possibly the first ever use in combat.”

He said the missile was capable of delivering multiple warheads at extremely high speeds, even though they are less accurate than cruise missiles or short-range ballistic missiles.

Video of the attack showed six fiery trails followed by powerful explosions – a clear sign that multiple warheads were used. The authenticity of the videos could not be independently confirmed.

As for Putin’s claim that Western systems failed to intercept the missile, Savill said “these are quite difficult to defend,” even for advanced US Patriot systems.

“You’re dropping multiple independently targetable warheads, MIRVs, at extremely high speed, so even Patriot will have difficulty actually intercepting those,” he said.

What is Putin’s message to the West?

Putin on Thursday described the use of the Oreshnik as a response to Ukrainian attacks on Russian military facilities in the Bryansk and Kursk regions earlier this week using Western-supplied weapons.

One of those attacks killed and injured an unspecified number of Russian soldiers, adding “elements of a global character” to the conflict, according to the Kremlin leader.

Putin has previously warned that using Western weapons would mean Russia and NATO are at war.

“We believe that we have the right to use our weapons against military facilities of the countries that allow their weapons to be used against our facilities,” he said. “And if aggressive actions escalate, we will respond decisively in mirror image.”

If Russia carries out more attacks on Ukraine with the new missile, the country will give advance warning of its use to keep civilians safe as a “humanitarian” gesture, Putin said. can’t stop the attack

“I would advise the ruling elites of the countries that are making plans to deploy their military contingents against Russia to think about it seriously,” Putin said.

Savill said the new missile sends a chilling message from Russia that “we have things that make you outraged.”

The bigger message to the West is that “we would like to enter a competition around intermediate-range ballistic missiles. PS These may have a nuclear tip. Do you really want to take that risk?’”

Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy secretary of Russia’s Security Council chaired by Putin, ramped up the rhetoric by posting a video of the missile attack on Ukraine and rebuking the West.

“So, that’s what you wanted? Well, you damn well got it! A hypersonic ballistic missile strike,” he posted on X.

What was the reaction of Ukraine and the West?

In an address to the nation, President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced the attack and accused Moscow of using Ukraine as a testing ground for its new weapon.

“Today our insane neighbor has once again shown what they really are, and how they despise dignity, freedom and human life itself. And how scared they are,” he said.

Two U.S. officials, who were not authorized to comment publicly on the sensitive matter and spoke on condition of anonymity, said Russia has only a few such experimental missiles in its possession and that it is not a capability that is expected to be deployed regularly. deployed against Ukraine.

British Defense Secretary John Healey told lawmakers the war was happening at “a serious moment” and that “the front line is now less stable than at any time” since the conflict began.

“We have seen a very clear escalation from Putin and his forces in recent weeks,” he said. “They have stepped up attacks on Ukraine’s energy system in the run-up to winter, they have stepped up attacks on civilian centers killing children, they have sent at least 10,000 North Korean troops to the front lines.”

Associated Press writers Jill Lawless in London and Aamer Madhani, Tara Copp and Lolita C. Baldor in Washington contributed