Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin firing new ballistic missile is ‘severe escalation’ as Nato and Kyiv to meet
Zelensky urged worldwide condemnation and said the attack was proof Russia has ‘no interest in peace’
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Your support makes all the difference.Russia’s use of a new experimental hypersonic missile is a severe escalation of the conflict, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky warned.
Zelensky said the attack on Dnipro, central Ukraine, with a medium-range ballistic warhead on Thursday was “yet more proof that Russia has no interest in peace”.
Ukrainian air defence forces said the missile – which has a range of more than 3,400 miles and can be used to carry nuclear warheads – was fired from Russia’s Astrakhan region, on the Caspian Sea.
In response, Nato and Ukraine will meet in Brussels, Belgium, next week to discuss Moscow’s use of the Oreshnik missile.
“He is testing you, dear partners. He must be stopped. A lack of tough reactions to Russia’s actions sends a message that such behaviour is acceptable. This is what Putin is doing,” Zelensky said.
“Pressure is needed. Russia must be forced into real peace, which can only be achieved through strength,” he added.
Vladimir Putin said the missile travelled at 10 times the speed of sound and so could not be intercepted - allowing Russia to strike most of Europe and the west coast of the United States.
Putin says Russia fired experimental ballistic missile at Ukraine
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Putin says Russia tested new hypersonic mid-range ballistic missile in Ukraine
Vladimir Putin has said that Russia used a new hypersonic medium-range ballistic missile to attack a Ukrainian military facility – contradicting fears in Kyiv that Moscow had fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky had earlier accused Mr Putin’s forces of using his country as a missile testing ground, after he warned that Russia had struck Dnipro with a missile “matching the speed and altitude” of an ICBM.
While that would have marked the first time Moscow had used such missiles in Ukraine, Mr Putin said later on Thursday in a nationwide TV address that Russia had actually conducted combat tests of the mid-range “Oreshnik” hypersonic missile system, in a strike he framed as a warning to the West.
With tensions escalating, Mr Putin said the Oreshnik had been fired in response to the aggressive actions of Nato countries, after Ukraine used US and British-made long-range missiles to strike targets on internationally recognised Russian territory for the first time this week.
What is an ICBM and how many does Russia have?
As Ukraine deals with a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) strike on the city of Dnipro, the West has been quick to downplay the use of the long-range and difficult-to-detect warheads amid fears it could escalate the conflict. But what are they and how dangerous could they be for the human race?
Barney Davis explains:
What is an ICBM and how many does Russia have?
Ukraine’s air force has claimed an RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballist missile (ICBM) was fired on Dnipro
Russia fired intermediate-range missile, not ICBM, at Ukraine, US says
Russia fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile, not an ICBM, during an attack on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Thursday, a US official told Reuters, contradicting the official account from Ukraine.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the assessment was based on initial analysis.
US targets Russia's Gazprombank with new sanctions
The U.S. imposed fresh sanctions on Russia’s Gazprombank on Thursday, the Treasury Department said, wielding its most powerful sanctioning tool against the bank.
The move effectively kicks Gazprombank - one of Russia’s largest banks - out of the US banking system, bans their trade with Americans and freezes their US assets.
The Treasury also imposed sanctions on 50 small-to-medium Russian banks to curtail the country’s connections to the international financial system and prevent it from abusing it to pay for technology and equipment needed for the war. It warned that foreign financial institutions that maintain correspondent relationships with the targeted banks “entails significant sanctions risk.”
The sanctions were imposed under a Biden executive order. It was not immediately clear whether President-elect Donald Trump could remove them if he decided to take a different stance on Russia.
Injury toll hits 26 with one woman fighting for life after Russian strike on Zelensky’s hometown
The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that its air defence systems shot down two British-made Storm Shadow missiles, six HIMARS rockets, and 67 drones.
The statement didn’t say when or where the Storm Shadows were shot down or what they were targeting. Russia earlier reported downing some of the missiles over the illegally annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Russia also struck Zelensky’s home city of Kryvyi Rih, wounding 26 people, said the head of regional administration, Serhii Lysak.
The missile strike caused damage to an administrative building, at least five multistory residential buildings, and civilian vehicles.
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