War in Ukraine: Putin continues testing his new missile, 2 dead in a drone attack in Ukraine… update on the situation

Putin assures that Moscow will continue to test its new missile in combat

Vladimir Putin declared this Friday, November 22, that Russia would continue to test its new Orechnik hypersonic missile in combat and that it had a stock ready for use. The Russian president was speaking the day after Russia's first firing of this new intermediate-range weapon against the city of Dnipro, in Ukraine, a decision he said was justified by kyiv's use of American and British missiles to strike the territory. Russian.

Vladimir Putin called the shooting “success” and promised to lead others. “We will continue these tests, including in combat conditions, depending on the situation and the nature of the threats to Russia’s security”he said in televised comments to defense officials and missile designers.

Vladimir Putin assured that Russia already had several of these missiles, with a range of 3,000 to 5,500 km, which would allow it to strike anywhere in Europe or the western United States from Russia . Ukraine said the missile reached a maximum speed of more than 13,000 km/h and took about 15 minutes to reach its target after being fired on the shores of the Caspian Sea.

The Kremlin said it had sent a warning to Western countries that might be tempted to take other decisions. “reckless” in support of Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, for his part, denounced Friday a “grave escalade” and called on Ukraine's allies to respond. He added that his country was working to develop new air defense systems to deal with “new risks”.

France deplores Russian attack via “Orechnik” missile

France on Friday condemned the recent Russian attack against Ukraine via a medium-range non-nuclear hypersonic missile called Orechnik. “France deplores the massive attack on the Dnipro region carried out by Russia using the 'Orechnik' ballistic missile, which caused widespread damage in civilian areas”, a spokesperson for the Quai d’Orsay said on Friday.

Russia announced Thursday that it had used a new medium-range hypersonic missile in an attack on Ukraine, a shot presented as a warning to Western supporters of kyiv. “The threats addressed by the Russian president against European states and NATO members are unacceptable,” continues the spokesperson for the Quai d’Orsay.

“This confirms Russia's escalatory posture. A NATO-Ukraine Council will meet on Tuesday and will allow the Allies to discuss this subject. In this situation there is only one aggressor, Russia, and only one attacked, Ukraine”, added this spokesperson.

Russian drone attack in Sumy leaves 2 dead, 12 injured, says kyiv

A Russian drone attack on the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy killed two people and injured 12 others on Friday, regional authorities reported. The attack took place around 5 a.m. and caused damage to twelve apartment buildings, five private residences, a store and three cars, the national police said.

Volodymyr Artiukh, the governor of the Sumy region, said Russian forces equipped the drones with projectiles to attack a densely populated area of ​​the city. “This weapon is used […] exclusively (to kill) people”, he denounced, showing marks on a damaged building.

Video posted online by the Sumy regional military administration following the attack shows damaged cars and buildings with windows blown out. In recent weeks, Russia has launched deadly attacks against the region and its critical infrastructure.

On Tuesday, a drone attacked the town of Hloukhiv, still in the Sumy region, overnight, killing 12 people, including a child. Sunday evening, a missile attack on Sumy left 11 dead and 89 injured. The attack also deprived the region's administrative center of electricity.

Ukraine does not plan to withdraw from Russia's Kursk region at this stage

A senior source within the Ukrainian general staff said on Friday that kyiv forces did not intend, at this stage, to withdraw from the Russian region of Kursk, which they still control, according to them. , “environ 800 km2”.

“We will stay in the Kursk region of Russia as long as it makes sense,” this source told reporters. “The maximum territory we occupied in the region was 1,376 km2. Today it is around 800 km2”she clarified.

The Russian army advances “200-300 meters per day” near Kourakhové

Russian troops are advancing “200-300 meters per day” near Kurakhové, one of the hottest spots in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, a high-ranking source in the Ukrainian General Staff said on Friday.

“The enemy is advancing” in the Kourakhové sector and “advances 200 to 300 meters per day”this source told journalists. In the Pokrovsk sector, a logistics hub in the same region, the situation is more favorable and “has hardly changed in the last two months”she assured.