Putin threatens Ukraine with fresh missile strikes

President Vladimir Putin announced that 100 drones and 90 missiles were launched at Ukraine over the past two days as “in response to strikes deep” inside Russia while threatening to target Kyiv with a new missile.

Speaking at a meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana, on Thursday, Putin addressed the recent Russian missile attacks on Ukraine’s power infrastructure. He also discussed Russia’s use of the Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile in a strike on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro last week.

Putin revealed that Russia has commenced serial production of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile. The Ministry of Defence, he said, is currently identifying new targets in Ukraine, potentially including “decision-making centres” in Kyiv, as a response to Ukrainian long-range strikes on Russian territory using Western weapons.

He further warned that if the Oreshnik missile is used extensively, “the force of the strike will be comparable to nuclear weapons.”

Ukraine’s Energy Minister, German Galushchenko, reported that the country’s power infrastructure had come “under massive enemy attack,” leading the national power grid operator to implement emergency power cuts amidst freezing temperatures.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the recent attack as a “despicable escalation,” accusing Russia of using cluster munitions.

“In several regions, strikes with cluster munitions were recorded, and they targeted civilian infrastructure,” he said in a post on Telegram. “This is a very despicable escalation of Russian terrorist tactics,” he said.

Zelenskyy emphasised the urgent need for more Western air defence systems, stating, “This is especially important in winter when we have to protect our infrastructure from targeted Russian attacks.”

The Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) reported in its annual report in September that cluster munitions have killed or wounded more than 1,000 people in Ukraine since Russia launched its all-out war in February 2022.

(ALJAZEERA)

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