Ukraine war: With new hypersonic missile, Putin sends a warning to ...

4 hours ago

Times of India

On Tuesday, Putin signed a decree lowering the threshold for using nuclear weapons.

In a stark demonstration of its growing military arsenal, Russia fired an experimental hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Thursday.The Kremlin on Friday said the strike was designed to warn the West that Moscow will respond to moves by the US and Britain to let Kyiv strike Russia with their missiles.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was speaking a day after President Vladimir Putin said Moscow had fired the new missile - the

Vladimir Putin - Figure 1 — Photo Times of India

Oreshnik

or Hazel Tree - at a Ukrainian military facility.Peskov said Russia had not been obliged to warn the United States about the strike, but had informed the US 30 minutes before the launch anyway.

Also Read: Putin says Russia hit Ukraine with new new hypersonic ballistic missile, warns US, UKDriving the news

Russia fired its new hypersonic missile, the "Oreshnik" (Hazelnut), at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Thursday, marking an unprecedented escalation in the nearly three-year war.The new hypersonic missile traveled over 700 kilometers from Russia’s Astrakhan region to hit a facility in Dnipro. While Russian officials described the strike as targeting a military-industrial complex, the attack wounded two civilians and damaged local infrastructure, according to Ukrainian authorities.President Vladimir Putin, in a televised address, confirmed the missile test, describing it as both a successful strike and a warning. He hinted at its nuclear capabilities and emphasized that it was designed to counter Western involvement in Ukraine.This attack followed Kyiv’s use of Western-supplied long-range missiles, including US-made ATACMS and British Storm Shadows, to target Russian military sites earlier this week. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy labeled Russia’s response a "severe escalation," calling for a global reckoning.

The Oreshnik missile test is a stark reminder of the high stakes in the Ukraine war. While its military impact may be limited, its geopolitical implications are profound. Putin’s move to introduce hypersonic weapons into the conflict signals his willingness to escalate, even as Western leaders grapple with the best way to respond. As the war inches closer to a global confrontation, the world waits to see how far Moscow is willing to push its warnings—and how decisively the West is prepared to answer.(With inputs from agencies)