President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of Ukraine said on Friday that his country was working on developing new types of air defence to counter “new risks” following Russia’s deployment of a new medium-range missile in the 33-month war.
Zelenskiy, in his nightly video address, said testing a new weapon for purposes of terror in another country was an “international crime” and issued a new call for a world-wide “serious response” to keep Russia from expanding the war.
“On my behalf, the Minister of Defence of Ukraine is already holding meetings with our partners regarding new air defence systems capable of protecting lives from new risks,” Zelenskiy said.
“When someone starts using other countries not only for terror, but also for testing their new missiles through acts of terror, then this is clearly an international crime.”
He said the world needed to come up with “a serious response so that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin will truly be afraid to expand the war and feels the real consequences of his actions”.
Zelenskiy called on Ukrainians to be vigilant in the face of continued Russian attacks.
“There is no other way in war,” he said. “We must be aware that ‘comrade’ Putin will keep trying to intimidate us. That is how he built all his power.”
The Kremlin said the firing of the Oreshnik was a warning to the West against taking further “reckless” actions and decisions in support of Ukraine.
The Oreshnik missile was fired with conventional, not nuclear warheads. Putin said it was not a strategic nuclear weapon but its striking power and accuracy meant that its impact would be comparable, “especially when used in a massive group and in combination with other high-precision long-range systems”.
He said the missile could not be shot down by an enemy. The missile was said to have been fired in response to Ukraine firing U.S.-made ATACMS deep inside Russian territory by Ukraine.
Team Bharatshakti
(With inputs from Reuters)
