MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Moscow has the right to strike military installations of countries whose weapons are used by Ukraine to hit Russian territory.
“We consider ourselves entitled to use our weapons against the military facilities of those countries that allow their weapons to be used against our facilities,” Putin said in a televised address to the nation.
Putin was speaking after the Russian Defence Ministry said Ukraine fired US-made long-range missiles and UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles into Russia.
Putin said the West was escalating the conflict in Ukraine by allowing Kyiv to strike Russia with long-range missiles, and that the conflict was becoming a global conflict.
“In response to the use of American and British long-range weaponry on 21 November, the Russian armed forces carried out a combined strike on one of Ukraine’s military-industrial complex sites,” Putin said.
“In combat conditions, a test was carried out of one of the latest Russian intermediate-range missile systems. In this case, with a non-nuclear hypersonic version of a ballistic missile,” he said, before adding that the “test was successful. The target was reached”.
“One of the largest industrial complexes known since the Soviet era has been hit on Ukraine’s territory, in the city of Dnipropetrovsk. It is still manufacturing missiles and other armaments,” he added.
“In the event of escalation of aggressive actions, we will also respond decisively and in a mirror-like manner. I recommend that the ruling elites of those countries that are hatching plans to use their military contingents against Russia seriously think about this,” the Russian president said as quoted by Kommersant.
“Objects to be hit during further tests of our newest missile systems will be determined by us based on security threats to the Russian Federation,” Putin said.
Putin said that following attacks on Russia’s Bryansk and Kursk regions with American and British long-range missiles, a regional conflict in Ukraine had now acquired elements of a global nature.
Western missiles, Putin said, would not affect the outcome of Russia’s special operation.
He accused America of destroying the system of global security. “We are ready for any developments. If anyone still doubts this, they shouldn’t. There will always be a response.”
He also went on to claim that Western nations will be unable to intercept Russian missiles, such as the newly-developed Oreshnik which he said was used against Dnipro this morning.
“There are currently no ways of counteracting this weapon. The missiles attack targets at a speed of 10 Mach, that’s 2.5-3 km per second,” Putin said.
Earlier today, Moscow’s Ambassador in London, Andrei Kelin, said Britain was “now directly involved” in Russia’s war with Ukraine, following reports Kyiv had fired UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles onto Russian territory.
On Tuesday, Ukraine fired US-made Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) missiles deep into Russian territory for the first time, Russia’s defence ministry said. A Russian military blog and Reuters reported that Ukraine launched the Storm Shadow missiles at targets inside Russia for the first time on Wednesday.
The Russian ambassador told Sky News that “this firing cannot happen” without the UK’s involvement. He also accused Ukraine of using mercenaries from different countries in the fighting.
When asked if the move had dragged Britain into the war, Mr Kelin said, “Absolutely, Britain and UK is now directly involved in this war, because this firing cannot happen without NATO staff, British staff as well.”
Ukraine’s government has yet to confirm the strikes on Tuesday and Wednesday, which come days after United States President Joe Biden’s administration reportedly removed the restrictions on the use of the long-range, US-made weapons after lobbying by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The Ukrainian leader has been pressing his Western allies to allow the use of the ATACMS, or Army Tactical Missile System, amid military gains by Russian forces in recent months. Kyiv has received more than $100bn in aid from the West, including more than $61bn from the US, Al Jazeera reported.
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“Two Storm Shadow cruise missiles, six HIMARS rockets, and 67 unmanned aerial vehicles were neutralised by air defence systems,” Russia’s Ministry of Defence said in a statement on Thursday.
Ukraine’s Defense Minister Rustem Umerov refused to confirm or deny the use of the UK-French-made missiles during a Wednesday news conference.
When Umerov was asked if Ukraine used the Storm Shadow missiles to hit a target inside Russia, he replied, “We are using all the means to defend our country, so we’ll not go into detail. But we are just saying that we are capable and able to respond.”
The Reuters news agency reported the pro-Russian Two Majors channel posted on Telegram that Ukraine fired up to 12 Storm Shadow missiles into Russia’s Kursk region, which lies on Ukraine’s border. The channel carried pictures of pieces of the missile in which the name Storm Shadow was clearly visible.
On Tuesday, Russia’s Defence Ministry said Ukraine fired US-made ATACMS in Russia’s Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine and Kursk.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned Ukraine’s Western allies that if they allow Ukraine to strike inside Russia with the missiles, it would mean NATO is “at war” with Russia.
On Tuesday, Putin officially lowered the threshold of nuclear weapons use for Russia. These changes were first announced in September.
Regarding Tuesday’s ATACMS attack, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said: “This is, of course, a signal that they want to escalate.”
