Russia has fired an experimental ballistic missile at the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro in response to the US and UK allowing Kyiv to strike Russian territory with advanced western weapons, in a further escalation of the 33-month-old war. Russian president Vladimir Putin said in an unannounced televised address to the nation that Moscow struck a Ukrainian military facility on Thursday with a new ballistic missile known as “Oreshnik” (the hazel) and warned that more could follow. He said in an apparent threat to the US and the UK that Moscow “had the right” to strike western countries that provided Kyiv with weapons used against Russian targets. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said the use of the new missile amounted to “a clear and severe escalation” in the war and called for strong worldwide condemnation.
Ukraine’s parliament postponed a sitting due to have taken place on Friday out of security concerns, public broadcaster Suspilne reported, quoting sources. It said the order told members to keep their families out of Kyiv’s government district and quoted parliamentarians as saying that, for the moment, the next sitting was not scheduled until December.
Russia also fired a Kinzhal hypersonic missile and seven Kh-101 cruise missiles, six of which were shot down, the Ukrainian air force said. The attack targeted enterprises and critical infrastructure in Dnipro, the air force said. The city was a missile-making centre in the Soviet era. The regional governor, Serhiy Lysak, said the attack damaged an industrial enterprise and set off fires in Dnipro. Two people were hurt.
Russian strikes killed at least two people in the north-eastern Ukrainian city of Sumy, the acting mayor said on Friday. “Several massive explosions occurred in Sumy,” Artem Kobzar said on Telegram. He said air defences were still working as of just before 6am local time and warned residents to stay away from windows. The Sumy regional military administration said a residential neighbourhood had been struck by a Russian drone, adding that rescue operations were under way. It confirmed the two deaths and said 12 people had been injured.
Russia notified Washington shortly before Thursday’s ballistic missile strike, according to a US official, while another said the US had briefed Kyiv and allies to prepare for the possible use of such a weapon. Regional tensions have spiked in the past several days, with Ukraine firing US and British missiles at targets inside Russia this week despite Moscow’s warnings that it would see such action as a major escalation.
Ukraine initially suggested Russia fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), a weapon designed for long-distance nuclear strikes and never before used in war. But US officials and Nato echoed Putin’s description of the weapon as an intermediate-range ballistic missile, which has a shorter range of 3,000-5,500km (1,860-3,415 miles).
Zelenskiy said on X after Putin’s televised address that Russia’s acknowledgement it used the new weapon was another escalation after deployment of North Korean troops on Russian soil. Thursday’s attack, Zelenskiy said, was “yet more proof that Russia has no interest in peace”. “The world must respond,” he said. “Right now, there is no strong reaction from the world ... A lack of tough reactions to Russia’s actions sends a message that such behaviour is acceptable.”
A Nato spokesperson said Russia was seeking to “terrorise” civilians and intimidate Ukraine’s allies. “Deploying this capability will neither change the course of the conflict nor deter Nato allies from supporting Ukraine,” Farah Dakhlallah said.
UN secretary general António Guterres’s spokesperson said Russia’s use of a new intermediate-range ballistic missile was “yet another concerning and worrying development. “All of this [is] going in the wrong direction,” Stéphane Dujarric said as he called on all parties to de-escalate the conflict and “to protect civilians, not hit civilian targets or critical civilian infrastructure”.
