"Firm Response if Western Attacks Expand"
Zelensky Calls for "Phase 2 Escalation"... Urges Allies to Respond
The war between Russia and Ukraine has continued for over 1,000 days and is intensifying. After Ukraine launched its first attack on Russian mainland using medium-range missiles supplied by the United States and the United Kingdom, Russia struck Ukraine with a new type of medium-range missile.
According to major foreign media including the Associated Press (AP), Russian President Vladimir Putin stated in a national address on the 21st (local time) on state television, "In response to the use of long-range weapons by the United States and the United Kingdom, the Russian military carried out a complex strike on one of Ukraine's military-industrial facilities today."
President Putin introduced the missile, saying, "We tested one of the latest Russian medium-range missile systems," and named this hypersonic missile without a nuclear warhead 'Oreshnik (Hazelnut).' He also explained, "The test was successfully conducted."
He 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 American 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 it was not an ICBM but a new type of medium-range ballistic missile. U.S. officials also told the AP 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 attack Russian mainland with their domestically produced long-range missiles. On the 19th and 20th, Ukraine struck Russian mainland using ATACMS missiles supplied by the U.S. and Storm Shadow missiles (known as SCALP in France) from the U.K., respectively. This sent a warning message to Ukraine's allies.
In his speech, President Putin said Russia developed the Oreshnik in response to the U.S. developing and deploying missiles with similar ranges. Russia has long claimed that missile attacks by NATO member countries on its territory are equivalent to NATO's direct intervention. The AP assessed, "The ballistic missile launched by Russia attacked military-industrial facilities in Dnipro, Ukraine, but its real mission was to send a new message to NATO."
Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesperson, stated that Russia gave prior notice to the U.S. via the automatic nuclear non-proliferation hotline 30 minutes before launching the new hypersonic missile at Ukraine. However, the U.S. said it was only briefly notified just before the attack.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky criticized Russia's use of the new medium-range ballistic missile on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), saying, "The scale and brutality of the war have clearly and seriously escalated." He claimed that this new weapon use marks Russia's "second stage of escalation," following the deployment of North Korean troops to the front lines. He also said Russia is testing Ukraine's allies and urged world leaders to pressure Russia.
NATO spokesperson Farah Dakhlalla condemned Russia's missile launch, stating, "The deployment of missiles will not change the direction of the conflict, nor will it prevent NATO allies from supporting Ukraine."
United Nations Secretary-General Ant?nio Guterres said, "Protect civilians and do not attack critical civilian infrastructure," adding, "Everything is going in the wrong direction."
Meanwhile, the AP cited two anonymous U.S. officials who said Russia possesses only a few of these test missiles and is unlikely to deploy them regularly in Ukraine.
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