Ukraine: Putin threatens to hit kyiv with his “Orechnik” missile | War in Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened Thursday to strike decision-making centers in kyiv with his powerful “Orechnik” missile used for the first time last week, after new massive attacks on the Ukrainian electricity grid.

These nighttime strikes, which plunged at least a million Ukrainians into darkness, are a answeraccording to Mr. Putin, to the recent bombings carried out by kyiv in Russia using American ATACMS and British Storm Shadow missiles.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on his allies to oppose a firm response au blackmail from Moscow.

The latest Russian strikes constitute an attack scandalousdenounced outgoing American President Joe Biden, emphasizing the urgency and importance of supporting the Ukrainian people.

After a first strike on Ukraine with the missile Orechnik Last week, Vladimir Putin warned that Russia could repeat these shots, or even bomb military sites of Western countries which arm kyiv.

He has so far not carried out his threats, but attacked Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with missiles and drones for the 11th time this year, this time with weapons cluster munitionsselon Kiev.

A meteorite

From Astana, capital of Kazakhstan where he was participating in a regional summit, Vladimir Putin repeated do not exclude to use the missile Orechnik to attack decision-making centers, including in kyiv.

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 weaponsaid the Russian president, comparing the missile to a meteorite.

Volodymyr Zelensky denounced a desire to kill and destroyaccusing Mr. Putin of seeking escalation and not wanting this war to end.

We must respond together to Russia’s attempt to make the situation even more unbearable and prolong this war.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, whose country is a loyal supporter of kyiv and one of the pillars of resistance to Moscow in Europe, judged that Vladimir Putin’s threats demonstrated his weakness more than anything else.

We will not be frightened by threats like this, we will support Ukraine as long as it needs itinsisted Mr. Tusk.

A million Ukrainians are in the dark

Russia has been attacking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure for nearly 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 met with 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 attacking energy infrastructure with bombs cluster munitionswhich amounts to de facto undermining of these sites.

The Ukrainian president also once again pleaded for sending air defense systems now.

Energy infrastructure was hit in several regions, causing power outages all over the countryaccording to the boss of the Yasno electricity supply company, Serguii Kovalenko.

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

Russian advance

The Russian army continues to advance on the front, after having made significant territorial gains in Ukraine, notably around the cities of Pokrovsk, Kurakhové and Koupiansk, less than two months before Donald Trump returns home. White 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.

On Thursday, Vladimir Putin, who rubbed shoulders with Donald Trump during his first visit to the White House between 2017 and 2021, described him asintelligent man with lots of experiencecapable of find solutions.