Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to attack America and Britain. Ukraine is using US and UK missiles against Russia. In such a situation, Russia has also threatened that it will use ballistic missiles against these countries. According to reports, during his address on TV, Putin said that those who are helping Ukraine will also be attacked. He said that a warning will be issued in advance to take the common citizens to safe places.
Putin said in a televised address that Thursday’s Russian attack on Ukraine was in response to Ukraine’s attacks on Russian territory with American and British missiles earlier this week. He warned that US air defense systems would not be able to intercept Russian missiles. Ukraine claimed on Thursday that Russia fired an intercontinental ballistic missile at one of its cities at night. At the same time, American officials have said that initial assessment indicates that the attack was carried out by a medium-range ballistic missile.
Ukraine said that an intercontinental ballistic missile was fired at the city of Dnipro along with eight other missiles and that Ukrainian forces destroyed six of those missiles. According to local officials, two people were injured and an industrial establishment and a rehabilitation center for disabled people were damaged as a result of the attack. However, the ICBM’s strike range appears excessive for use against Ukraine. Such missiles are designed to carry nuclear warheads and their use would serve as a powerful message of Russia’s nuclear capability.
The attack came two days after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a revised nuclear doctrine that formally lowers the limits on the use of nuclear weapons in the country. Ukraine fired several long-range missiles sent by the US on Tuesday and also reportedly used British-made ‘Storm Shadows’ missiles on Wednesday.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Thursday that its air defense systems destroyed two British-made ‘Storm Shadow’ missiles, six HIMARS rockets and 67 drones.
The announcement was made in a daily briefing by the ministry on ‘special military operations’ in Ukraine. It did not say when and where exactly the incident occurred or at whom the missiles were fired. This is not Moscow’s first public announcement of downing ‘Storm Shadow’ missiles. Russia had earlier also talked about destroying some such missiles in its occupied Crimea peninsula.
The development comes as the war has taken a more international dimension with North Korean troops arriving to aid Russia on the battlefield. Officials say that after North Korean troops arrived to help Russia, US President Joe. Biden had to change his policy regarding allowing Ukraine to fire long-range American missiles at Russia.
On Biden’s policy change, Russia threatened that its consequences would not be good. Putin has also previously warned the US and other NATO allies that allowing Ukraine to use long-range weapons to attack Russian territory would mean war between Russia and NATO. Moscow’s new doctrine also allows Russian forces to potentially launch a nuclear strike in the event of a conventional attack on Russia by any nuclear-armed state.
