Russia-Ukraine war latest: Kiev shuts down parliament after Putin launches new hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile

President Vladimir Putin said Russia had attacked Ukraine with a new hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile in response to the use of US and British missiles against Russia by Kiev.

President Putin said that one of Russia’s newest intermediate-range missiles, “Oleshnik” (hazel tree), is a hypersonic ballistic missile.

He said it could not be intercepted because it was traveling at 10 times the speed of sound. Russian intelligence sources say it has a range of 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles), allowing Russia to strike much of Europe and the West Coast of the United States.

It appears to carry multiple reentry vehicles that can be independently targeted. Separate warheads can attack different targets.

According to Yury Podlyaka, a prominent Ukrainian-born pro-Russian military blogger, Russian military expert Anatoly Matvichuk said the warhead could carry six to eight conventional or nuclear warheads and was probably already in service. He said that

The US Department of Defense announced that the missile fired by Russia was based on the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) RS-26 Rubezh.

The United States said it had been informed of the launch through nuclear risk reduction channels.

The RS-26 is a solid-fuel road-mobile ballistic missile whose development began in 2008.

The United States formally withdrew from the landmark 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty with Russia in 2019 after saying Russia was in violation of the agreement, but the Kremlin rejected the accusation. I denied it.

The United States said at the time that Russia was developing a land-based cruise missile (known in Russia as the 9M729) that was different from the RS-26.

The foreign minister vowed to continue “doing everything necessary” to help Ukraine fight Russia after President Vladimir Putin threatened to attack Britain.

Russia’s president used a new ballistic missile against Ukraine on Thursday, but Putin said he would allow missiles supplied to Ukraine by Britain and the United States to be used to attack targets inside Russia. He claimed that it was a response to what he had done.

“We believe we have the right to use our weapons against the military installations of countries that allow the use of weapons against our installations,” he said.

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The interior minister said he would “continue to observe” President Vladimir Putin’s “offensive words”.

Asked this morning about the Russian leader’s threat to use arms against countries that allow their weapons to be used against Russia, Yvette Cooper said: “Russia has invaded a sovereign country.

“We have seen President Putin’s aggressive language and reactions throughout this incident, which are completely unacceptable and we will continue to see such aggressive language.

“It is clear that such behavior is unacceptable, which is why we have supported Ukraine in defending itself against President Putin’s aggression.”

Mr Cooper also refused to officially confirm whether British weapons were used by Ukraine in Russia, saying he was “not going to comment on the details of individual defense operations”.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy spoke for the first time after Russia allegedly launched an intercontinental ballistic missile into Ukraine.

President Zelenskiy labeled Russia an “insane neighbor” who despises “dignity and freedom” in a shared video to mark Ukraine’s “Dignity and Freedom Day.”

President Zelenskiy claimed that Russia and leader Vladimir Putin are “so afraid” of Ukraine and are “looking all over the world for more weapons.”

Zelenskiy also claimed that Putin was using Ukraine as a “testing ground” and then thanked those who are supporting his country’s war against Russia.

In a nationally televised address on Thursday, November 21, the Russian president added that Russia could use it against countries that have allowed Kiev to use its missiles to attack Russia. Ta.

Putin said Thursday’s attack on Ukraine was in retaliation for a Ukrainian attack on Russian territory earlier this week in which U.S. and British missiles were used.

President Vladimir Putin said in a speech yesterday that we are escalating towards a global conflict after the US and UK authorized Ukraine to launch weapons attacks on Russia, raising the possibility that Russia could strike back. He warned Western countries that this was the case.

President Putin said Russia fired a new hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile at military facilities in Ukraine in response to missile use by the United States and Britain. Putin warned that more could happen. He said he would warn civilians ahead of further attacks with such weapons.

He said the United States was pushing the world toward global conflict.

Analysts say that despite the dire nature of the Kremlin’s rhetorical response, Kiev’s support could increase if Western countries eased restrictions on Ukraine’s use of long-range weapons, but said it would do little to change the situation.

“At this stage of the war, the risk of Russian nuclear use is lower than before. Politics and battlefield developments favor Russia, and there is little to be gained by escalating the conflict to a nuclear level.” Alexander Volfras, head of strategy, technology and arms control at the International Institute for Strategic Studies think tank, said:

He also pointed out diplomatic shortcomings.

“Using nuclear weapons risks alienating China and other non-Western countries, which are key to maintaining Russia’s war economy,” Volkhlas told NBC News in an email Wednesday. “It would also be a very precarious start to relations with the incoming Trump administration.”

President Vladimir Putin has claimed that the Russian government used long-range British and American missiles to launch a new hypersonic ballistic missile toward Ukraine in response to an attack by Kiev inside Russia.

The Russian leader said Oleshnik (Hazel) intermediate-range missiles were used in some of the recent attacks. Earlier, the Ukrainian Air Force announced that Russia had launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in an attack on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, the first recorded use of the weapon during the war.

Ukraine’s air defense force said the missile, which has a range of more than 3,400 miles and can carry a nuclear warhead, was fired from Russia’s Astrakhan region on the Caspian Sea. But U.S. officials said initial U.S. assessments indicated the attack was carried out with an intermediate-range ballistic missile that could not travel very far, and that was backed up by Putin’s statements.

The UK and the UK are now “directly involved” as parties in the Ukraine war, Moscow’s ambassador says, after Storm Shadow missiles used to attack targets inside Russia dragged Ukraine into the conflict. warned.

Ambassador Andrei Kerin told Sky News: “Without a doubt, the UK and the UK are now directly involved in this war, because this shooting could not happen without NATO personnel, without British personnel.” .

“The US government, with support from France and the UK, has made a deliberate decision to carry out these attacks, which could seriously escalate the situation and lead to a conflict between the nuclear powers,” he said. said.

The Russian diplomat also claimed to have been told that British missiles would only be used on Ukrainian territory, calling this a “deliberate deception against us”.