Russian President Vladimir Putin records a televised address in Moscow, Russia, on Thursday (November 21, 2024).
| Photo Credit: AP

“The Kremlin fired a new intermediate-range ballistic missile at Ukraine on Thursday (November 21, 2024) in response to Kyiv’s use this week of American and British missiles capable of striking deeper into Russia,” President Vladimir Putin said.

In a televised address to the country, the Russian President warned that U.S. air defense systems would be powerless to stop the new missile, which he said flies at ten times the speed of sound and which he called the Oreshnik — Russian for hazelnut tree. He also said it could be used to attack any Ukrainian ally whose missiles are used to attack Russia.

“We believe that we have the right to use our weapons against the military facilities of the countries that allow to use their weapons against our facilities,” Mr. Putin said in his first comments since President Joe Biden gave Ukraine the green light this month to use U.S. ATACMS missiles to strike at limited targets inside Russia.

Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh confirmed that Russia’s missile was a new, experimental type of intermediate range missile based on it’s RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile.

“This was a new type of lethal capability that was deployed on the battlefield, so that was certainly of concern,” Ms. Singh said, noting that the missile could carry either conventional or nuclear warheads. “The U.S. was notified ahead of the launch through nuclear risk reduction channels,” she said.

“The attack on the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro came in response to Kyiv’s use of longer-range U.S. and British missiles in strikes Tuesday and Wednesday on southern Russia,” Mr. Putin said. “Those strikes caused a fire at an ammunition depot in Russia’s Bryansk region and killed and wounded some security services personnel in the Kursk region,” he said.

“In the event of an escalation of aggressive actions, we will respond decisively and in kind,” the Russian President said, adding that Western leaders who are hatching plans to use their forces against Moscow should “seriously think about this.”

Mr. Putin said the Oreshnik fired Thursday struck a well-known missile factory in Dnipro. He also said Russia would issue advance warnings if it launches more strikes with the Oreshnik against Ukraine to allow civilians to evacuate to safety — something Moscow hasn’t done before previous aerial attacks.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov initially said Russia hadn’t warned the U.S. about the coming launch of the new missile, noting that it wasn’t obligated to do so. But he later changed tack and said Moscow did issue a warning 30 minutes before the launch.

Mr. Putin’s announcement came hours after Ukraine claimed that Russia had used an intercontinental ballistic missile in the Dnipro attack, which wounded two people and damaged an industrial facility and rehabilitation center for people with disabilities, according to local officials. But American officials said an initial U.S. assessment indicated the strike was carried out with an intermediate-range ballistic missile.