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.

The ICBM attack on Ukraine comes two days after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a revised nuclear doctrine that formally lowers the threshold for the country’s use of nuclear weapons. File
| Photo Credit: AP

Ukraine says Russia launched an intercontinental ballistic missile overnight targeting Dnipro city in the central-east of the country, which, if confirmed, would be the first time Moscow has used such a missile in the war.

In a statement Thursday (November 21, 2024) on the Telegram messaging app, Ukraine’s air force did not specify the exact type of missile, but said it was launched from Russia’s Astrakhan region, which borders the Caspian Sea.

It said an intercontinental ballistic missile was fired at Dnipro city along with eight other missiles, and that the Ukrainian military shot down six of them.

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Two people were wounded as a result of the attack, and an industrial facility and a rehabilitation center for people with disabilities were damaged, according to local officials.

While the range of an ICBM would seem excessive for use against Ukraine, such missiles are designed to carry nuclear warheads, and the use of one would serve as a chilling reminder of Russia’s nuclear capability and a powerful message of potential escalation.

Revised nuclear doctrine

The attack comes two days after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a revised nuclear doctrine that formally lowers the threshold for the country’s use of nuclear weapons. Ukraine on Tuesday fired several American-supplied longer-range missiles and reportedly fired U.K.-made Storm Shadows on Wednesday into Russia.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement Thursday that its air defence systems shot down two British-made Storm Shadow missiles, six HIMARS rockets, and 67 drones. The announcement came in the ministry’s daily roundup regarding the military actions in Ukraine.

The statement didn’t say when or where exactly it happened or what the missiles were targeting. This is not Moscow’s first public announcement of the shooting down of Storm Shadow missiles, as Russia earlier reported downing some over the annexed Crimean Peninsula.

International dimension

The developments come as the war has taken on a growing international dimension with the arrival of North Korean troops to help Russia on the battlefield — a development that U.S. officials said prompted U.S. President Joe Biden’s policy shift on allowing Ukraine to fire longer-range U.S. missiles into Russia. The Kremlin responded with threats to escalate further.

Mr. Putin has previously warned the U.S. and other NATO allies that allowing Ukraine to use Western-supplied longer-range weapons to hit Russian territory would mean that Russia and NATO are at war.

And the new doctrine allows for a potential nuclear response by Moscow even to a conventional attack on Russia by any nation that is supported by a nuclear power.

While the doctrine envisions a possible nuclear response by Russia to a conventional strike, it is formulated broadly to avoid a firm commitment to use nuclear weapons and keep Putin’s options open.