Russian President Vladimir Putin announces readiness of advanced missiles, while Ukraine’s Zelensky urges global leaders to respond decisively.
Russian President Vladimir Putin claims to have a stockpile of new missiles “ready for use,” boasting that “no other nation possesses weapons like ours.” In response, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky calls for a “serious reaction” to Russia’s deployment of an experimental ballistic missile, asserting that Putin will continue attempts to intimidate Ukraine. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warns that the threat of global conflict is significant and real as the Ukraine-Russia war reaches a critical stage. Meanwhile, NATO states that Russia’s weapon usage will not alter the trajectory of the conflict. We’re now hearing from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky again who emphasizes that Russian intimidation needs an effective response.
In a video address, Zelensky emphasizes that the West’s reaction to Putin’s deployment of the new hypersonic missile should ensure that the Russian President experiences significant repercussions for his actions.
He emphasizes that the “Russian missile threat” is something that must not be overlooked.
On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin provided some details about a new powerful missile that struck Dnipro earlier in the day. He referred to it as “Oreshnik,” meaning hazel tree.
He stated that it moved at Mach 10, meaning it was traveling ten times faster than the speed of sound, and added that there were “no means to counter this weapon.”
However, aside from Putin’s explanation, there seems to be no general agreement on what it truly is.
Ukrainian military intelligence maintains that the missile in question was an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) referred to as Kedr, or Cedar. Meanwhile, a Russian military analyst mentioned to Izvestiya newspaper that it might be a scaled-down version of this type of missile.
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U.S. officials, however, indicate that the launch of such a missile would have set off a nuclear alert in Washington.
Meanwhile, another expert informs the same newspaper that the missile might have been developed based on the shorter-range Iskander missiles—already frequently used in Ukraine—but with a new-generation solid fuel engine.
If, according to Putin, the missile is classified as an intermediate-range weapon, it would have a range of 2,500-3,000 km (1,550-1,860 miles), and could potentially reach up to 5,000 km. This capability would place nearly all of Europe within its target area.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he plans to persist with testing the Oreshnik hypersonic ballistic missiles.
The missile launched on Thursday was “successfully” tested, Putin stated, noting that no other country possesses a weapon like this one.
During a meeting with defense leadership and members of his Security Council, he stated that the development of the new missile system is crucial “as we face new threats.”
The Russian leader claims that the missile is unstoppable and announced, “We have a supply of these systems ready for deployment.” He also mentioned that he has now directed the mass production of these missiles.
