War in Ukraine | The conflict has taken on a “global character”, says Putin

(Dnipro) Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that the conflict in Ukraine now had all the makings of a “world” war and warned that he did not rule out hitting Western countries.

These threats from the master of the Kremlin come at the end of a day of extreme tensions where Russia used an intermediate-range ballistic missile (up to 5,500 km) on Ukrainian territory, designed to carry a nuclear warhead.

Read “Why did Russia fire a ballistic missile at Ukraine?” »

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the shooting was the act of a “crazy neighbor” who is using Ukraine as a military “testing ground”. Later, he called on the world to “react”, and saw in this shot “proof that Russia absolutely does not want peace”.

The United States referred the Russian president to his own accusations: “It is Russia which is provoking the escalation” in Ukraine, said the White House spokesperson. Washington also declared that it had “no reason” to modify its nuclear doctrine based on Moscow’s “irresponsible speech”. The Pentagon, for its part, confirmed that it had been informed by Moscow shortly before the launch of the missile via “nuclear risk reduction channels”.

Ukraine had accused Russia during the day of having struck it in Dnipro (center) using a missile having “all” the characteristics of an intercontinental missile devoid of its nuclear warhead, a first in history constituting an unprecedented escalation of war and Russian-Western tensions.

Mr. Putin therefore confirmed, in a brief speech broadcast on television, that in response to Western missile strikes on its territory, Russia had fired on Ukraine on Thursday with a new type of hypersonic ballistic missile called “Orechnik”. , which was in its “nuclearized configuration”.

This shot targeted “a site of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex,” he said.

The city of Dnipro is home to the Pivdenmach group, formerly YuzhMash, which during the Soviet era was one of the centers of the military missile industry.

“We consider ourselves within our rights to use our weapons against the military installations of countries that authorize the use of their weapons against our installations,” Mr. Putin warned.

Russia “ready for anything”

In his address to the nation lasting less than ten minutes, Vladimir Putin denounced the two strikes carried out in recent days by Ukraine on Russian territory using American ATACMS and British Storm Shadow missiles, weapons with a range of About 300 km.

American President Joe Biden, who had long refused to do so, authorized these strikes on Russian territory with American weapons on Sunday, despite warnings from Russia which had brandished the nuclear threat.

With the authorization of these strikes by Washington, “the conflict provoked by the West in Ukraine has taken on the elements of a [conflit] of a global nature,” said the Russian president.

“We consider ourselves within our rights to use our weapons against the military installations of countries that authorize the use of their weapons against our installations,” he added.

In addition to American ATACMS missiles, the Ukrainians therefore have Franco-British Storm Shadow/Scalp cruise missiles supplied by these two countries. Germany, long requested to supply its own Taurus cruise missiles, categorically refused.

In the midst of the escalation of the conflict, Mr. Putin assured that Russia was “ready for all” scenarios, both against Ukraine and against the West.

The use of such a missile to strike Ukraine is a “worrying new development”, commented the spokesperson for the UN Secretary General.

“Extremely serious”

Even before the confirmation of this shot by Vladimir Putin, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs had denounced an “extremely serious” event.

The European Union and London had stressed that this would constitute “an escalation” on the part of Moscow.

The Russian president is trying to “rewrite the principles of international relations by returning to the law of the strongest and the annihilation of the security architecture which has ensured peace for generations”, underlined the heads of French and British diplomacy in a joint column published Thursday evening by Le Figaro.

According to him, the United States had “informed Ukraine and close partners and allies in recent days” about the possible use of this missile by the Russians, in order to help them “prepare” for it.

Moscow must in particular “reconsider” its position on the “escalatory” involvement of North Korean soldiers in the conflict, for his part underlined the French Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu.

It was the deployment of thousands of North Korean soldiers to confront the Ukrainian army in the Russian border region of Kursk that was put forward by the United States to change its position on the issue of missile strikes. Westerners in Russian territory.

The extent of the damage after the Russian ballistic missile was fired in Dnipro was not immediately clear. Two people were injured in the area by Russian strikes on Thursday, according to regional governor Serguii Lyssak.

Nuclear warnings

The attack occurs at a time when tensions are at their highest between Moscow and the West, with the approach of Donald Trump’s return to the White House in January, anticipated as a turning point.

Russia, which invaded Ukraine almost three years ago, has increased large-scale strikes there in recent days as well as warnings against Kyiv’s allies.

Moscow has in particular strengthened its nuclear warnings.

According to its new doctrine on the use of nuclear weapons, made official on Tuesday, Russia can now use them in the event of a “massive” attack by a non-nuclear country but supported by a nuclear power, a clear reference to Ukraine and in the United States.

Elsewhere in Ukraine, 26 people were injured in strikes in Kryvyï Rig, a town located about 100 kilometers southwest of Dnipro, according to Governor Serguiï Lyssak.

At the same time, the Russian army continues to advance in eastern Ukraine. The Russian Defense Ministry claimed Thursday the capture of a small town near the town of Kurakhové, in the east of the country.

Russian advances are particularly worrying for Kyiv, which fears being pushed to the negotiating table in an unfavorable position.