A ballistic missile was launched by Russia towards Ukrainian city of Dnipro as the Russia-Ukraine War rages on and hours after the missile attack, Russian President Vladimir Putin has confirmed the missile launch in a sudden TV appearance, describing the missile and warning the West against supporting Ukraine.
The new ballistic missile fired by Russia struck a military-industrial facility in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, but its real mission was delivering a deadly new message to NATO. Hours following Thursday’s strike touched off a debate over whether the Ukrainian plant was hit by an intercontinental ballistic missile, President Vladimir Putin made a rare and surprise appearance on Russian television to clear up the mystery.
He described it as a new, intermediate-range ballistic missile that raced to its target at 10 times the speed of sound. “Modern air defense systems that exist in the world and anti-missile defenses created by the Americans in Europe can’t intercept such missiles,” Putin declared in an icy and menacing tone. The attack marked the first time that such a missile was used in the war or in any conflict.
The dramatic events came in a week of soaring tensions as Ukraine struck targets in Russia with American-made longer-range missiles following the U.S. eased restrictions on their use and Putin responded by lowering the threshold for using Moscow’s nuclear arsenal. The Ukrainian Air Force reported tracking the ICBM launch, along with six other missiles, all of which targeted the Dnipro region. The missiles were launched in rapid succession from Russia’s Astrahan region, starting at around 5 a.m., Ukrainian military officials said.
Ukraine’s military said nthat six of the missiles were intercepted, but the one they believe was an ICBM struck a site in Dnipro. According to the media reports, no casualties or significant damage from the attack, which appeared to target businesses and critical infrastructure.“We are 95% sure it was an ICBM,” said a Ukrainian official. However, they noted that investigators were still analyzing missile fragments and had not yet reached a definitive conclusion.
Comments