Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin vows to launch more missiles as Poland warns threat of global war is real
Russian president says Moscow has stockpile of such systems ready to use
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Your support makes all the difference.Vladimir Putin has vowed to launch more strikes using an experimental intermediate-range ballistic missile (IBRM) like that fired at Ukraine on Thursday, insisting Moscow had a stockpile of them.
The Russian president said production of the Oreshnik was being launched, adding: “No one in the world has such weapons.”
Testing the hypersonic missile would continue, he said, “including in combat, depending on the situation and the character of security threats created for Russia”. There is “a stockpile of such systems ready for use”, he added.
The missile is so powerful, Putin claimed, that the use of several fitted with conventional warheads in one attack could be as devastating as a strike with strategic — nuclear — weapons.
Meanwhile, Poland’s prime minister warned of a real risk of a global conflict breaking out.
Donald Tusk said the war was taking on “dramatic proportions”.
Russia fired a hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile at the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Thursday.
Putin said the strike was in retaliation for Ukraine’s using Western-supplied long-range missiles to strike military targets inside Russian territory.
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The UK’s Ministry of Defence says it has intelligence saying that Russia is being forced to use its advanced fighter jets for more standard missions.
The MoD said Russia’s air force had failed to establish air superiority over Ukraine “despite technological and numerical advantage” and more than 1,000 days of war.
“Russia has resorted to using their tactical level aviation - such as SU-34 aircraft - as airborne artillery,” it added, without explaining why.
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Russia says Ukraine returned 46 of its civilians originally from Kursk
The governor of Russia’s Kursk border region said on Friday that 46 Russian civilian residents of Kursk held by Ukraine had been returned to Russia following negotiations with Kyiv.
Alexei Smirnov said the civilians, including 12 children, had been moved by Ukrainian troops into Ukraine after Kyiv staged a cross-border incursion into the western Russian region of Kursk in August.
Ukraine continues to control part of the region despite Russian attempts to dislodge Kyiv’s forces
Ukraine says new Russian missile reached speed of over 13,000 kph
The Russian missile that struck the Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Thursday reached a top speed of more than 13,000 kph (8,000 mph) and took about 15 minutes to reach its target from its launch, Ukraine said on Friday in its first public assessment of the new weapon.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow struck a Ukrainian military facility with a new intermediate-range, hypersonic ballistic missile known as “Oreshnik” as a warning to the West against supporting Ukraine’s war effort.
The attack took place with fighting in the war nearing the three-year mark and Ukraine firing longer-range missiles supplied by its Western allies at targets inside Russia.
“The flight time of this Russian missile from the moment of its launch in the Astrakhan region to its impact in the city of Dnipro was 15 minutes,” the military’s Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR) said in a statement.
What do we know about Putin’s ‘experimental’ ballistic missile?
What do we know about Putin’s ‘experimental’ ballistic missile?
The Russian experimental missile could be fitted to carry nuclear warheads, the US Pentagon has warned
Threat of global conflict is real, Polish PM says
There is a real risk of a global conflict breaking out over the Ukraine war, Polish prime minister Donald Tusk warned.
Mr Tusk said the conflict was taking on “dramatic proportions” with the threat of global conflict “serious and real”.
It comes after Russia fired a hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile at a the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Thursday.
“The war in the east is entering a decisive phase, we feel that the unknown is approaching,” Tusk told a teachers conference.
“The conflict is taking on dramatic proportions. The last few dozen hours have shown that the threat is serious and real when it comes to global conflict.”
On Thursday, Russian president Vladimir Putin said the strike was a response to the US and UK allowing Kyiv to strike Russian territory with advanced Western weapons.
What missile did Russia use?
Ukraine’s air force initially said the missile was an intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) - the kind that Russia could hit the United States with.
But the US military later said the weapon was an intermediate-range missile (IRBM) based on the design of Russia’s longer-range RS-26 ICBM missile
The Pentagon said it was fired with a conventional warhead but Moscow could modify it if it wanted, with Russia only possessing a handful of them.
“It could be refitted to certainly carry different types of conventional or nuclear warheads,” Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said.
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