Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement from Russian President Vladimir Putin addressing the Russian retaliatory strike against the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, where an Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) was used, and Western escalation of the conflict.
Putin said the IRBM used was a test with a nonnuclear hypersonic payload. It was a response to the Ukrainian strike with six U.S.-manufactured Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) targeting a weapons depot in the Bryansk region and a command-and-control center in Russia’s Kursk region:
As a response to the use of U.S. and UK manufactured weapons, the Russian forces have carried out a combined strike on one of the military-industrial facilities in Ukraine. This included the test of a novel, intermediate-range Russian missile system. A ballistic missile with a nonnuclear, hypersonic payload was used. The test was carried out successfully. The objectives of the launch have been met.
He explained that the Oreshnik IRBM missile travels at Mach 10, and cannot be intercepted by existing Western anti-missile systems:
The ruling elites of the countries that are nurturing plans to use their military contingents against Russia should be warned. When choosing our measures to be used in response, such as the use of systems that was attested recently in Ukraine, [they] will certainly include a warning to civilians and to clear the zones that will be targeted. We will certainly do this, and in a transparent fashion, and we do not have any fears that it will reduce the effectiveness of those systems, because there is no way to counteract a missile that flies at 10 Mach, which is 2.5 to 3 kilometers per second. Existing anti-missile systems, and the anti-missile systems deployed by the United States and Europe cannot intercept such missiles, it is impossible.
Putin continued, blaming the U.S. and Ukraine’s Western allies for destroying “the system of international security.” Although Russia would prefer to resolve the conflict peacefully, he said, it is prepared and will respond to any scenario:
So once again, it is not Russia, but the United States who have destroyed the system of international security, and they are trying to preserve their hegemony and stoking a global conflict. We have always preferred, and we still prefer to resolve our disagreements using peaceful means, but we are prepared for any scenario, and if anyone has any doubts, they shouldn’t. There will always be a response.
