Russia fires ‘nuclear-capable’ missile at Ukrainian city
KYIV—Days after announcing that it had changed its doctrine on the use of nuclear weapons, Russia on Thursday fired a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile at Ukraine in response to the United States and UK’s allowing Kyiv to strike Russian territory with advanced Western weapons.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a televised address, said Moscow struck a Ukrainian military facility with a new medium-range, hypersonic ballistic missile known as “Oreshnik” (the hazel) and warned that more could follow.
He said civilians would be warned ahead of further strikes with such weapons.
Fabian Hoffmann, a doctoral research fellow at Oslo University who specializes in missile technology and nuclear strategy, said the weapon carried a MIRVed (multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle) payload, which is exclusively associated with nuclear-capable missiles.”
Hoffman said the use of the missile was “for signaling purposes.”
Ukraine on Nov. 19 struck Russia with six US-made ATACMS and British Storm Shadow missiles
Conflict ‘expanded’
After approval from the administration of President Joe Biden, Ukraine struck Russia with six US-made ATACMS and British Storm Shadow missiles on Nov. 19 and with US-made HIMARS on Nov. 21, Putin said.
“From that moment, a regional conflict in Ukraine previously provoked by the West has acquired elements of a global character,” Putin said in an address to the nation carried by state television after 8 p.m. in Moscow.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said use of the new missile amounted to “a clear and severe escalation” in the war and called for strong worldwide condemnation.
Zelenskyy had insisted on striking inside Russia with Western-made weapons despite threats by Moscow of a possible nuclear retaliation.
Washington sources said the lifting of restrictions on the use American missiles was in response to North Koreans fighting along Russians in Kursk.
A US official said Russia notified Washington shortly before its strike, while another official said the United States had briefed Kyiv and allies to prepare for the possible use of such a weapon.
‘Shorter range’
Kyiv initially suggested Russia fired an intercontinental ballistic missile, 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 3,000-5,500 km.
Zelenskyy, writing on X after Putin’s television appearance, said Russia’s acknowledgement it used the new weapon was another escalation after deployment of North Korean troops on Russian soil.
Thursday’s attack, Zelenskyy said, was “yet more proof that Russia has no interest in peace.
“The world must respond. Right now, there is no strong reaction from the world. … A lack of tough reactions to Russia’s actions sends a message that such behavior is acceptable.”
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Russia likely possesses a handful of the “experimental” missiles used in Thursday’s strike.
Ukraine’s air force said the missile targeted Dnipro in central-eastern Ukraine and was fired from the Russian region of Astrakhan, more than 700 kilometers away. Russia also fired a Kinzhal hypersonic missile and seven Kh-101 cruise missiles, six of which were shot down, the Ukrainian air force said.
Dnipro was a missile-making center in the Soviet era. Ukraine has expanded its military industry during the war but keeps its whereabouts secret.
