Russia launched a new intermediate-range, non-nuclear hypersonic ballistic missile, targeting the PA Pivdenmash Machine-Building Plant in the city of Dnipro, president Vladimir Putin stated.
Initially, Ukrainian officials said Russian forces had launched an intercontinental ballistic missile. However, it was an experimental intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) based on Russia’s RS-26 Rubezh missile, Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh confirmed at a briefing on Thursday. She also confirmed that the US was “briefly” notified before the launch, according to ABC News.
Meanwhile, Putin declared in a rare address to the nation that Russian forces had successfully tested the latest Oreshnik IRBM on Thursday. The Russian leader also stated that the strike on the Pivdenmash plant was a response to the Biden administration’s recent decision to grant Ukraine permission to deploy US-made ATACMS ballistic missiles to hit targets within Russia.
On 19 November, with six US-made ATACMS missiles, and on 21 November, in a combined missile strike with UK-made Storm Shadow and US-made HIMARS systems, military facilities on the territory of the Russian Federation – in the Bryansk and Kursk regions – were targeted.
Noting that Russia was ready to resolve disputed issues through negotiations, Putin also emphasised that Moscow would “respond decisively and in a mirror-like manner” to any escalation.
From that moment on, as we have repeatedly emphasised previously, the regional conflict in Ukraine, previously provoked by the West, has acquired elements of a global character. We are developing intermediate- and shorter-range missiles as a response to US plans to produce and deploy intermediate- and shorter-range missiles in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.
On Tuesday, he approved the updated nuclear doctrine to allow Russia to respond to any massive strike on its territory with conventional weapons, including drones.
I repeat, we are conducting combat tests of the Oreshnik missile system in response to the aggressive actions of NATO countries against Russia. The issue of further deployment of intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles will be decided by us depending on the actions of the United States and its satellites.
