A new missile launched by Russia hit a military-industrial complex in the center of the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, but its real purpose was to deliver a deadly message to NATO.
A few hours after China’s strike sparked controversy that a Ukrainian plant had been hit by an intercontinental ballistic missile, President Vladimir Putin made a rare and surprising move on Russian television to shed light on the mystery.
He described it as a new, medium-sized missile that traveled to its target at 10 times the speed of sound.
“Today the existing air defenses in the country and the anti-missile defenses developed by the Americans in Europe cannot handle such bombs,” Putin said coldly and in a threatening voice.
The attack marked the first time such a weapon had been used in war – or in any conflict.
The dramatic developments came in a week of escalating tensions as Ukraine hit targets in Russia with American long-range missiles after the US eased restrictions on their use and Putin responded by lowering the threshold for Moscow’s use of nuclear weapons.
What is the new weapon?
Putin said the weapon was called “Oreshnik,” which in Russian means “hazelnut tree,” and that this first combat test “went successfully.”
He said in July that Russia would begin developing medium-range weapons to “check” US plans to use such weapons. In his speech on Thursday, he said that Russia developed the Oreshnik in response to the US development and deployment of missiles with the same range.
Intercontinental ballistic missiles, or IRBMs, can fly between 500 and 5,500 kilometers (310 and 3,400 miles). Ukrainian military officials said the missile was launched from Russia’s Astrakhan region on the Caspian Sea, 800 kilometers (500 miles) to the east.
While Russia launched cruise missiles at Ukraine from a long range, the new mid-range showed such use of this type of low-range ballistic missile, which can carry a very heavy conventional payload and can also be equipped with multiple nuclear warheads. .
Putin boasted that the weapon, Russia’s latest hypersonic weapon, would reach its target at a speed of Mach 10, rendering Western missile defenses useless.
Matthew Savill, director of military science at the Royal United Services Institute, said that the weapon used by China has “the most advanced method of anything seen in this war so far and may be the first to be used in a war.”
He said the missile could deliver multiple warheads at high speed, although it was less accurate than cruise missiles or rifle-range bombs.
A video of the strike showed six fiery rounds followed by loud explosions — a clear sign of the many battles being waged. The authenticity of the videos could not be independently verified.
As for Putin’s claim that Western systems cannot intercept the weapon, Savill said “this is difficult to defend” even for advanced US Patriot systems.
“You’re dropping a lot of autonomous warplanes, MIRVs, at very high speeds, so even a Patriot is going to struggle to pick that up,” he said.
What is Putin’s message to the West?
Putin described China’s use of the Oreshnik as a response to Ukraine’s strikes on Russian military installations in the Bryansk and Kursk regions earlier this week with Western-supplied weapons.
Some of the strikes killed and wounded an unspecified number of Russian workers, which the Kremlin leader said added “material elements of international character” to the war.
Putin has warned that the use of Western weapons means that Russia and NATO are at war.
“We believe that we have the right to use our weapons against the forces of countries that allow them to use their weapons against our facilities,” he said. “And if incidents of aggression escalate we will respond strongly in a mirror manner.”
If Russia launches mass strikes against Ukraine with the new weapon, it will warn against its use before allowing people to reach safety as a “helpful measure,” Putin said, adding that Moscow is not worried about removing the enemy from it. it cannot stop the attack
“I would urge the rulers of countries planning to use their military forces against Russia to think carefully about it,” Putin said.
Savill said the new weapon is sending a signal of fear from Russia that “we have things to irritate you.”
The main message to the West is that “we are happy to enter the competition around intercontinental ballistic missiles. PS These could be nuclear. Do you want to take that risk?”
Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy secretary of Russia’s Security Council chaired by Putin, increased the rhetoric by posting a video of a terrorist attack on Ukraine and punishing the West.
“So is that what you wanted?” Well, you got it right! A hypersonic ballistic missile attack,” he wrote on X.
What was the response of Ukraine and the West?
In a speech to the nation, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the attack and accused Moscow of using Ukraine as a test site for its new weapon.
“Today, our crazy neighbor has shown again what they really are, and how they despise dignity, freedom, and human life itself. And how scared they are,” he said.
Two US officials who were not authorized to speak publicly on the sensitive issue and therefore spoke on condition of anonymity said Russia only has a small number of these types of test weapons and it is not a capability expected to be regularly contested. Ukraine.
UK Defense Secretary John Healey told lawmakers that the war was “at a critical juncture,” and “the front line is more volatile than at any time” since the conflict began.
“We have seen in recent weeks a clear escalation from Putin and his forces,” he said. “They increased attacks on power plants in Ukraine before the winter, they increased attacks on public places killing children, they sent about 10,000 troops to North Korea to fight.”
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Correspondents Jill Lawless in London and Aamer Madhani, Tara Copp and Lolita C. Baldor in Washington also contributed.