1 of 3 | Russian President Vladimir Putin makes an address to the Russian armed forces personnel and citizens at the Kremlin in Moscow on Thursday. Putin announced a successful test of a hypersonic nuclear-capable missile against a Ukrainian defense plant in Dnipro in response to Ukrainian strikes carried out with U.S. and British weapons. Photo by Vyacheslav Prokofeyev/EPA-EFE
Nov. 21 (UPI) — President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Russia hit a Ukrainian aerospace plant with an experimental hypersonic missile in the first use of a nuclear-capable weapon against Ukraine.
Speaking in an unscheduled television address, Putin said, “we are conducting combat tests of the Oreshnik missile system in response to NATO’s aggressive actions against Russia,” according to a translation from the Kremlin.
Russia’s use of the missile follows Ukraine having fired both U.S. and British long-range missiles this week after U.S. President Joe Biden gave Ukraine the green light to use Army Tactical Missile Systems to attack deeper within Russian territory.
U.S. Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh confirmed to reporters that Russia had launched an experimental intermediate-range ballistic missile. She said the United States was notified “briefly” before the launch via nuclear-risk reduction channels.
In his address, Putin said Russia attacked the Ukrainian aerospace facility in response to Kyiv’s use of U.S.- and British-made long-range weapons.
He called the test of the non-nuclear hypersonic ballistic missile a success. He warned that Russia will determine targets for future tests “based on the threat to the security of the Russian federation.”
“We consider ourselves entitled to use our weapons against military facilities of those countries that allow to use their weapons against our facilities, and in case of an escalation of aggressive actions, we will respond decisively and in mirror-like manner,” he said.
He claimed no countermeasures exist for the Oreshnik missile.
Putin also asserted a right to attack western countries that give Ukraine long-range defense weapons to counter Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said Russia would respond to further “escalation.”
At least two people were injured in the central-eastern city of Dnipro on Thursday morning after the Ukrainian Air Force said the city had been attacked with a Russian IRBM.
The industrial enterprise was damaged and two fires broke out in the city, said Dnipro Oblast Governor Serhii Lysak while city mayor Boris Filatov said in a social media update that a rehabilitation center for people with disabilities had been struck.
“The boiler room was destroyed and the windows were blown out. Information about people is being clarified,” said Filatov.
The IRBM was launched from Russia’s southeastern Astrakhan region as part of an airborne assault between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m. local time comprising seven cruise missiles launched from Tu-95 strategic bombers and an aeroballistic missile fired from a MiG-31k fighter jet, Ukraine’s Air Force said in a statement on social media.
Six cruise missiles were downed by air defenses, according to the air force which did not state whether the injuries or damage were caused by the IRBM.
Singh told reporters the use the Oreshnik missile is of concern to the Pentagon.
“I don’t have an assessment of its impacts right now, but it’s something that, of course, we’re concerned by,” she said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine described Russia’s use of the Oreshnik system in his nightly address Thursday as evidence of Putin having no interest in peace.
On X, he also characterized its use as another step taken by Putin this year to escalate and expand the war after enlisting the support of North Korea, which has deployed some 11,000 troops into the theater.
“The world must respond. Right now, there is no strong reaction from the world. Putin is very sensitive to this. He is testing you, dear partners,” Zelensky said.
“He must be stopped. A lack of tough reactions to Russia’s actions sends a message that such behavior is acceptable. This is what Putin is doing.”
Traveling at up to 17,000 mph and with a range of at least 3,400 miles during which they go sub-orbital, ICBMs can be configured to deliver nuclear or conventional warheads. Like ICBMs, IRBMs, can also be configured to carry nuclear warheads, but fly between 1,800 and 3,400 miles.
At least 15 people, including two boys aged 16 and 17, were injured in Russian missile strikes on Kryvyi Rih, 90 miles to the southwest of Dnipro. Nine people were hospitalized including the 17-year-old boy, Lysak said in an update on his social media account.
Among those injured were a 32-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman who were being treated in the hospital where they were reported to be in moderate condition, according to Lysak.
“The attack partially destroyed an administration building. Two two-story residential buildings were damaged. We are clarifying the details,” wrote Lysak.
Biden had been reluctant to sign off on Ukraine using ATACMS to attack deeper into Russian territory over fears of escalating the war.
ATACMS missiles were first used in the theater Tuesday, according to Russia. Ukraine this week also fired British-made Storm Shadow missiles into Russia for the first time, The Guardian reported, citing unnamed sources.
The report cited unconfirmed photos circulating on social media purportedly showing Storm Shadow missile fragments in Russia’s Kursk region.
