War in Ukraine | Putin threatens to target Kyiv with new Orechnik missile

(Kyiv) Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday threatened to strike decision-making centers in Kyiv with his powerful Orechnik missile used for the first time last week, after saying that the massive attacks carried out overnight against Ukraine were his “response” to the firing of American ATACMS missiles against its territory.

The master of the Kremlin then warned that Russia could repeat these strikes on Ukraine with this heavy missile, or even strike military sites in countries that arm Kyiv.

He has so far not carried out his threats, but instead attacked Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with massive missile and drone strikes for the 11^e times of the year, according to Kyiv.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of carrying out these strikes, which plunged at least a million Ukrainians into darkness at the dawn of winter, with “cluster munitions”.

This constitutes a “despicable escalation”, he denounced.

From Astana, capital of Kazakhstan where he is participating in a regional summit, Vladimir Putin justified the Russian strikes of the night: “This is a response to the continued attacks against our territory using missiles [américains] ATACMS ».

90 missiles et 100 drones

According to him, 90 missiles and 100 explosive drones were launched against Ukraine.

The famous missile which he had presented as an experimental hypersonic device called Orechnik, was therefore not used in this response, but the Russian president, speaking to the press a few hours later, said “not to exclude” its use future to attack “decision-making centers, including in Kyiv”.

The Russian president once again praised the merits of this weapon with a range of several thousand kilometers, designed to carry nuclear warheads.

It is capable of striking anywhere in Europe, even without being equipped with nuclear warheads, according to him.

“If you use several of these systems in one strike – two, three, four – then, in terms of its power, it is comparable to the use of a nuclear weapon,” he said. asserted to journalists, comparing the missile to “a meteorite”.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, whose country is a loyal supporter of Kyiv, judged that Vladimir Putin’s threats demonstrated his “weakness” more than anything else.

“The fact that he so often uses very harsh threats in his rhetoric testifies to his weakness rather than his strength,” responded Mr. Tusk, questioned about this threat during a joint press conference with his Swedish counterpart, Ulf Kristersson.

On Wednesday, Poland, the Baltic and Nordic countries said they wanted to strengthen their military support for Ukraine and called for an extension of sanctions against Russia.

“We will not let ourselves be frightened by threats of this kind, we will support Ukraine as long as it needs it,” insisted Mr. Tusk.

Cluster munitions

Russia has been attacking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure for almost three years, in order to undermine the morale of the population and handicap the logistics of Kyiv’s army, a tactic which has so far come up against the resilience of the Ukrainians.

On Thursday, the Russian army fired 91 missiles and 97 explosive drones, of which 79 and 35 were intercepted, respectively, according to the Ukrainian Air Force.

But Volodymyr Zelensky above all accused Moscow of having attacked energy infrastructures with “cluster munitions”, de facto undermining these sites and endangering civilians, emergency services as well as maintenance teams dispatched to the scene.

The Ukrainian president thus once again pleaded for the sending of “air defense systems now”.

Energy infrastructure was affected in several regions, causing power cuts “across the country”, according to the boss of the Yasno electricity supply company, Serguiï Kovalenko.

In total, at least one million Ukrainians are plunged into darkness, according to various regional authorities.

Trump, “an intelligent man”

Russia has intensified its military pressure on Ukraine in recent weeks, less than two months before Donald Trump’s return to the White House in the United States, seen as a possible turning point.

Very critical of the billions of dollars released by Washington for Ukraine, the president-designate promised to resolve the conflict even before taking the oath of office on January 20, without ever explaining how.

Thursday, Vladimir Putin, who rubbed shoulders with Donald Trump during his first visit to the White House between 2017 and 2021, described him as an “intelligent man” with “a lot of experience”, capable of “finding” solutions .

On the front, Russian forces have made territorial gains in recent weeks, at a speed not seen since the start of 2022, against a weakened Ukrainian army, particularly around the towns of Pokrovsk, Kourakhové and Koupiansk.

In this very uncertain context, the administration of outgoing President Joe Biden on Wednesday called on Kyiv to lower the minimum age for military mobilization to 18 years – instead of the current 25 years – to replenish the ranks.