Putin: Experimental Ballistic Missile Used In Thursday Attack On Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed on Thursday that Russia had used an experimental intermediate-range ballistic missile in an attack on Ukraine that took place in the early hours of Thursday.
In a recorded speech, Putin said the “Oreshnik” missile had been employed in a “non-nuclear” hypersonic configuration in an attack on the Yuzmash rocket production facility in Dnipro. He claimed that Russian forces would continue to test experimental weapons in combat in Ukraine, and that Moscow retained the right to attack countries providing military aid to Ukraine.
The speech came shortly after the White House’s National Security Council issued an assessment that the ballistic missile attack was conducted using an experimental IRBM. A section of the assessment obtained by NPR said that “Russia may be seeking to use this capability to try to intimidate Ukraine and its supporters, or generate attention in the information space, but it will not be a gamechanger in this conflict”.
Putin’s speech came some hours after a press conference by Russia’s foreign ministry where spokesperson Maria Zakharova was interrupted by a phone call telling her to not comment on the ballistic missile attack. As Zakharova held her phone near a microphone, the caller’s instructions were overheard by reporters present. The call appeared to indicate that the target was the Yuzhmash, a Ukrainian state-owned aerospace manufacture, factory in Dnipro.
The speech followed claims by the Ukrainian Air Force that an intercontinental ballistic missile had been used as part of a missile attack on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. The service said in an initial statement that it believed the missile with “characteristics” of an ICBM had been launched from Astrakhan Oblast in Russia. Other missiles launched included a Kh-47M2 “Khinzal” air-launched hypersonic missile launched from a MiG-31K over Tambov Oblast, and seven Kh-101 cruise missiles launched by Tu-95MS strategic bombers.
Imagery circulating on social media shortly after the attack ended showed what appeared to be multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles or penetration aids descending on Dnipro.
As of writing, Ukrainian firefighters in Dnipro report that at least two people were injured in the missile attack, with a rehabilitation center for people with disabilities among the buildings damaged.
The missile attack came shortly after Ukrainian command was reportedly granted clearance to use United States-supplied ATACMS short range ballistic missiles and Storm Shadow aircraft-launched cruise missiles against Russian forces attempting a counteroffensive into Ukrainian-held territory in Kursk, with Storm Shadows used in a Wednesday strike on a Russian command post in the settlement of Mar’ino.