Burc Eruygur
21 November 2024•Update: 22 November 2024
ISTANBUL
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said that his country struck a plant in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro using a new hypersonic medium-range ballistic missile.
Initially, Ukraine’s Air Force claimed that Moscow launched an intercontinental ballistic missile during an attack on the city of Dnipro early in the morning, which President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also confirmed in a later video address. But, he said that expert evaluations to confirm the exact model of the missile used are underway.
“One of the largest and well-known industrial complexes from the Soviet Union, which today produces missile technology and other weapons, was hit in the city of Dnipro in Ukraine,” Putin said in a live video address.
Russian Telegram channels earlier in the day said that the attack targeted the plant of Pivdenmash, Ukraine's state-owned aerospace manufacturer headquartered in Dnipro.
Indicating that the strike was conducted in response to Ukraine's use of American and British long-range weapons against Russia, Putin said the attack tested a new Russian medium-range missile system named Oreshnik, which he said, in this case, utilized a ballistic missile with "non-nuclear hypersonic" equipment.
Putin said such missiles are being developed by Russia in "response to the US plans to produce and deploy intermediate- and shorter-range missiles in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.”
The Russian president further said that the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, which marked its 1,000th day on Tuesday, has gained “elements of a global nature" after Western missiles were used to strike his country over the past two days.
He argued that Kyiv's use of long-range Western missiles will not influence the course of its military actions in Ukraine.
Putin said the issue of further deploying medium and shorter-range missiles will be decided depending on the actions of the US and its allies, and that Moscow will alert civilians in advance when using systems such as Oreshnik.
Russia is entitled to use weapons against military facilities of countries that are using their weapons against Moscow, Putin said, adding that Russia’s response to escalation in Ukraine will be “decisive and in kind.”
“I recommend that the ruling elites of those countries that are hatching plans to use their military contingents against Russia seriously think about this,” he added.
Ukrainian authorities have yet to confirm whether the Pivdenmash plant was hit during the attack.
