RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin announced on Thursday that Russia used a “ballistic missile with a non-nuclear hypersonic warhead” with a medium range for hitting the Ukrainian city of Dnipro.
Putin stated in a televised broadcast that the move was in retaliation to Ukraine’s use of American and British long-range missiles. “Our missilemen called it ‘Oreshnik,'” he said, adding that Ukraine has “no means” to counter the new “Oreshnik” missiles.
According to two US officials and one Western official, the “experimental” Russian missile contained several warheads, potentially marking the first time such a weapon has been used in war.
PUTIN’S WARNING
“We consider ourselves entitled to use our weapons against the military facilities of those countries that allow their weapons to be used against our facilities, and in the event of an escalation of aggressive actions, we will respond just as decisively and in kind,” the Russian leader said, referring to Ukraine’s use of six US-made ATACMS missiles and British-French Storm Shadow systems. The Pentagon responded by calling Putin’s words “dangerous, reckless rhetoric.”
THE UNITED STATES WAS NOTIFIED
Russia alerted the United States about its missile launch through the National Nuclear Risk Reduction Center, according to both the Kremlin and the Pentagon.
“The warning was sent in a standing automatic mode 30 minutes before the launch,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed.
WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE WEAPON
Known as a Multiple Independently-Targetable Reentry Vehicle (MIRV), it carries a series of warheads that can independently target a specific place, allowing a single ballistic missile to launch a more powerful attack.
MIRVs were created during the Cold War to deliver multiple nuclear warheads with a single launch.
The Minuteman III, the United States’ ICBM, is armed with MIRVs. The Russian missile was not equipped with nuclear warheads but rather employed a weapon designed for nuclear delivery to fire conventional missiles.
KYIV’S REACTION
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the new weapon as “a clear and severe escalation in the scale and brutality of this war,” while the country’s foreign ministry stated that Kyiv has “the full right under international law to hit any legitimate military targets in the territory of Russia” with long-range missiles.
The United Nations referred to Russia’s use of a new ballistic missile as “something else concerning and worrying development.”