Vladimir Putin, in a brief speech from the Kremlin broadcast on television, Thursday, November 21, accused the West of having transformed the conflict in Ukraine into a “global” conflict and thus justifying the shooting on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. 'a nuclear-capable but unarmed missile. He also threatened Westerners with strikes. Here is the verbatim version.
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“I would like to inform the personnel of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the citizens of our country, our friends around the world and those who continue to have illusions about the possibility of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia, events taking place today in the area where the “special military operation” is taking place, following the use of long-range weapons manufactured by the West against our territory.
Continuing the Western-provoked escalation of the conflict in Ukraine, the United States and its NATO allies previously announced that they were authorizing the use of their long-range precision weapons systems on the territory of the Russian Federation. Experts know well, and the Russian side has repeatedly emphasized this, that it is impossible to use such weapons without the direct involvement of military specialists from the countries that produce them.
On November 19, six American-made ATACMS operational-tactical missiles and, on November 21, in a combined missile attack, the British-made Storm Shadow and American-made HIMARS systems struck military installations on the territory of the Russian Federation. Russia – in the Bryansk and Kursk regions. From that moment, and as we have repeatedly emphasized, the regional conflict provoked by the West in Ukraine took on elements of a global character. Our air defense systems repelled these attacks. Therefore, the objectives clearly set by the enemy were not achieved.
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The fire at the ammunition depot in the Bryansk region, caused by falling debris from ATACMS missiles, was extinguished, and there were no casualties or serious damage. In the Kursk region, an attack was carried out on one of the command centers of our “North” group. The attack and the anti-aircraft parade unfortunately caused casualties, deaths and injuries among the personnel providing external security and among the maintenance personnel. The operational and command personnel of the center did not suffer any losses and continue to normally manage the actions of our troops to destroy and expel enemy units from the Kursk region.
Once again I would like to emphasize that the use of such weapons by the enemy is not able to affect the course of combat operations in the zone of the special military operation. Our troops are progressing successfully across the entire line of contact. All the tasks we set for ourselves will be accomplished.
Hypersonic ballistic missile
In response to the use of American and British long-range weapons, the Russian armed forces launched a combined strike on one of the installations of the military-industrial complex on November 21. In combat conditions, they notably tested one of the most recent Russian intermediate-range missile systems, in this case a ballistic missile in its non-nuclear hypersonic configuration. Our missile engineers named it “Orechnik”. The tests were successful and the firing objective was achieved. On the territory of Ukraine, in the city of Dnepropetrovsk [Dnipro en ukrainien]one of the largest and best-known industrial complexes since the days of the Soviet Union, which still produces missile equipment and other weapons today, was hit.
We are developing intermediate-range and short-range missiles in response to U.S. plans to produce and deploy intermediate-range and short-range missiles in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. We believe that the United States made a mistake by unilaterally destroying the Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 2019 under false pretexts. Today, the United States is not only producing such equipment, but, as we can see from training exercises for its troops, has been working on issues related to the deployment of its missile systems advanced in different regions of the world, including Europe. In addition, during these exercises, they practice using them.
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I would like to remind you that Russia has voluntarily and unilaterally committed not to deploy medium- and short-range missiles as long as American weapons of this type do not appear in any region of the world.
I repeat: we are carrying out combat tests of the “Orechnik” missile system in response to the aggression of NATO countries against Russia. The question of further deployment of medium and short-range missiles will be decided by us based on the actions of the United States and its satellites. We will determine the targets for further tests of our latest missile systems based on the threats to the security of the Russian Federation. 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. And in the event of an escalation of aggression, we will respond equally strongly and symmetrically. I recommend that the ruling elites of countries considering using their military contingents against Russia seriously think about it.
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There will always be an answer
Of course, when we choose, in case of necessity and as a retaliatory measure, targets to strike on Ukrainian territory with systems like “Orechnik”, we will propose in advance to civilians and ask citizens of friendly states who are on the scene to leave the dangerous areas. We will do this for humanitarian reasons, openly, publicly, without fear of countermeasures from the enemy, who will also receive this information.
Why without fear? Because today there is no way to counter such weapons. The missiles attack targets at a speed of Mach 10, or 2.5 to 3 kilometers per second. The air defense systems currently available in the world and the missile defense systems created by the Americans in Europe do not intercept these missiles. This is excluded.
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I would like to emphasize once again that it is not Russia but the United States which destroyed the international security system and which, by continuing to fight and cling to its hegemony, is pushing the whole world towards a global conflict. We have always been ready, and we still are, to resolve all problems by peaceful means, but we are also ready to deal with any developments.
If anyone still doubts this, it is in vain: there will always be an answer. »
