Use of hypersonic missile expands Russia's nuclear threats

By Global Watch and AFP | 2024-11-22

Russia launched an armed hypersonic missile at Ukraine on November 21, marking a sharp escalation of the fighting and furthering Russian leader Vladimir Putin's nuclear saber rattling.

Russia used a new, experimental "hypersonic" medium-range ballistic missile named Oreshnik ("Hazel") in an attack on Dnipro, Putin confirmed.

The Kremlin on November 22 said it was in "no doubt" that Washington had understood the warning.

"We are in no doubt that the current administration in Washington has had the chance to familiarize itself with this announcement and understand it," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

The nuclear-capable missile targeted critical infrastructure in the central city of Dnipro, injuring two people, said Kyiv.

"It is obvious that Putin is using Ukraine as a testing ground," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video posted on social media.

Zelenskyy accused Putin of doing "anything to prevent his neighbor from escaping his grasp" as the war stretches into its third year.

"Today, our crazy neighbor has once again shown who he really is and how he despises dignity, freedom and human life in general. And how afraid he is," Zelenskyy said.

Clear escalation

The Russian aerial bombardment damaged a rehabilitation center and several homes, as well as an industrial enterprise, said the governor of Dnipropetrovsk province, where Dnipro is situated.

"Two people were wounded -- a 57-year-old man was treated on the scene and a 42-year-old woman was hospitalized," said the official, Serhiy Lysak.

Russia could have used other types of missiles -- or even drones -- for such an attack, Fabian Hoffmann, a research fellow at the University of Oslo, who specializes in missile technology, said.

"This is all about the political effect. This is not about the military value," Hoffmann told AFP.

"While we're assessing the full facts, it's obvious that such [an] attack would mark yet another clear escalation from the side of Putin," European Union (EU) foreign affairs spokesman Peter Stano told reporters.

Russia updated its nuclear doctrine this week, allowing it to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear states.

"They are playing a nuclear gamble," the EU's Stano said of Moscow. "Whether they really mean it, it's very hard to foresee. We don't see in their heads. We only know that this is irresponsible and this constitutes a global threat."

Russia's use of a new medium-range ballistic missile to strike Ukraine was a "worrying development," Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres, said November 21.