NATO and Ukraine will maintain emergency talks on Tuesday after Vladimir Putin stated Russia will ramp up the manufacturing of a brand new, hypersonic ballistic missile.
Ukraine’s parliament cancelled a session as safety was tightened following a Russian strike on Thursday on a army facility in Dnipro, a central metropolis with a inhabitants of round a million. No fatalities have been reported.
In a nationally-televised speech, Mr Putin stated the assault – carried out with an intermediate-range Oreshnik missile – was in retaliation for Ukraine’s use of US and British missiles able to hanging deeper into Russian territory.
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Putin’s warning to the West
Russia conflict newest: Lengthy-awaited US air defences arrive in Ukraine
“No one in the world has such weapons,” the Russian president stated. “Sooner or later other leading countries will also get them. We are aware that they are under development.”
He added: “We have this system now. And this is important.”
Detailing the missile’s alleged capabilities, Mr Putin claimed it’s so highly effective that utilizing a number of fitted with typical warheads in a single assault may very well be as devastating as a strike with nuclear weapons.
Basic Sergei Karakayev, head of Russia’s strategic missile forces, stated the Oreshnik might attain targets throughout Europe and be fitted with both nuclear or typical warheads – whereas Mr Putin alleged Western air defence methods won’t be able to cease the missiles.
Mr Putin stated of the Oreshnik: “There is no countermeasure to such a missile, no means of intercepting it, in the world today. And I will emphasise once again that we will continue testing this newest system. It is necessary to establish serial production.”
Testing the Oreshnik will occur “in combat, depending on the situation and the character of security threats created for Russia”, the president added, stating there may be “a stockpile of such systems ready for use”.
EU leaders condemn Russia’s ‘heinous assaults’
Quite a few EU leaders have addressed Russia’s escalation of the battle with Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk saying the conflict is “entering a decisive phase [and] taking on very dramatic dimensions”.
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Russia’s new missile – what does it imply?
Talking in Kyiv, Czech overseas minister Jan Lipavsky referred to as Moscow’s strike an “escalatory step and an attempt of the Russian dictator to scare the population of Ukraine and to scare the population of Europe”.
