Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on the 21st (local time) that Russia used a new hypersonic medium-range ballistic missile in attacks on Ukraine in response to hostile actions by the West.
According to major foreign media including the AP News, President Putin said in a nationwide address on state television that "in response to the use of long-range weapons by the United States and the United Kingdom, the Russian military carried out a complex attack on one of Ukraine's military-industrial facilities on November 21."
President Putin introduced the missile as "Oreshnik (Hazelnut)," one of the latest Russian medium-range missile systems, which is a hypersonic missile without a nuclear warhead. He also stated that "the test was successfully conducted."
President Putin emphasized that the Oreshnik is a supersonic weapon that reaches its target at Mach 10, rendering Western missile defenses useless. Matthew Seville, head of military science at the Royal United Services Institute, evaluated Putin's claim by saying, "Even the advanced U.S. Patriot system would find it very difficult to defend against."
President Putin also stressed, "We have the right to use our weapons on military facilities of countries that allow their weapons to be used in attacks on our facilities," adding, "If aggressive actions escalate, we will respond just as firmly."
On the same day, the Ukrainian military announced that Russia had launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) at Dnipro, Ukraine. However, President Putin stated that it was not an ICBM but a new medium-range ballistic missile. U.S. officials also told AP News that they believe a medium-range ballistic missile, not an ICBM, was used.
This is interpreted as a countermeasure to the recent approval by the United States and the United Kingdom for Ukraine to use their long-range missiles to strike Russian territory. On the 19th and 20th, Ukraine struck Russian territory using U.S.-supplied ATACMS and British Storm Shadow (French name: SCALP) missiles, respectively. In his speech, President Putin said that Russia developed the Oreshnik in response to the U.S. developing and deploying missiles with similar ranges. Russia has long claimed that missile attacks on its territory by NATO member countries are equivalent to direct NATO intervention.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that Russia gave prior notice to the United States 30 minutes before launching the new hypersonic missile at Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned Russia on the same day, criticizing Russia for using Ukraine as a testing ground for new weapons.
However, AP News cited two anonymous U.S. officials saying that Russia possesses only a few of these test missiles and is unlikely to deploy them regularly in Ukraine.
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