Russian President Vladimir Putin said his forces may use a new missile again after targeting Ukraine in retaliation for Kyiv’s use of American and British-made weapons on Russian territory this week.
Russia said it launched an Oreshnik missile on the city of Dnipro on Thursday, the latest escalation of hostilities in the long-running war. Putin met with Defense Ministry officials and weapons makers Friday to congratulate them on what he called a successful test.
“We will continue these tests, including in combat conditions, depending on the situation and the nature of the security threat created for Russia,” the president said in televised remarks, adding that Russia has a stock of such weapons and he had ordered serial production to begin.
Putin has lowered the threshold for using Moscow’s nuclear arsenal as President Joe Biden reversed course and allowed Ukraine to use US-supplied ATACMS missiles to strike Russia. Ukraine also launched UK-made Storm Shadow missiles against Russian targets.
The new missile is capable of reaching targets across Europe, making it better than some high-precision weapons of a longer range, Sergey Karakaev, the commander of Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces, told Putin at the meeting, which was also attended by Defense Minister Andrey Belousov.
Since the start of the war, Ukraine has persuaded Western partners to provide air-defense systems, including the US-made Patriot batteries, despite initial hesitation on the part of its allies.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that his defense minister was meeting with partners in regard to new systems “that can protect life from new risks.”