Putin said Russia tested a new medium-range missile in attack on Ukraine

KYIV, Ukraine — Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Thursday that Moscow tested a new medium-range missile in an attack on Ukraine and warned that it could use the weapon against countries that allow Kiev to use missiles to hit Russia. he warned.

Putin said in a nationwide television address that Russia’s attack on Ukraine on Thursday was in response to Ukraine’s attacks on Russian territory with U.S. and British missiles earlier this week.

Putin announced that he would give advance warning if Russia launches further attacks with such missiles on Ukraine to ensure the safe evacuation of civilians.

He warned that US air defense systems would not be able to intercept Russian missiles.

Putin’s statement came just hours after Ukraine claimed this. Russia started An intercontinental ballistic missile was launched overnight against the city of Dnipro in central Ukraine. However, American officials said that the US’s initial assessment showed that the attack was carried out by a medium-range ballistic missile.

Local authorities said that two people were injured in the attack, and an industrial facility and a rehabilitation center for the disabled were also damaged.

The attack comes during a week of tensions rose many timesThe United States is easing restrictions on Ukraine’s use of American-made long-range missiles inside Russia, and Russian President Vladimir Putin is also lowered the threshold to launch nuclear weapons.

In the statement made by the Ukrainian air force, it was stated that the attack on Dnipro was launched from Russia’s Astrakhan region in the Caspian Sea.

“Today our crazy neighbor once again showed what he really is,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. “And how scared he is.”

The range of ballistic missiles can be from less than 500 kilometers (310 miles) to more than 5,500 kilometers (3,400 miles) for intercontinental ones. “Ballistic” refers to the shape of their trajectories.

The attack came during a week of rising tensions in the war.

Earlier this week, the Biden administration authorized Ukraine To use those provided by the USA, long range missiles Attacking deeper into Russia was a move that provoked an angry response from Moscow.

Days later Ukraine fired several missiles To Russia, according to the Kremlin. Same day Putin signed a new doctrine This allows for a potential nuclear response even to a conventional attack on Russia by any country backed by a nuclear power.

The doctrine was formulated broadly to avoid a definitive commitment to the use of nuclear weapons. In response, Western countries, including the United States, said Russia had used irresponsible nuclear rhetoric and behavior to intimidate Ukraine and other countries throughout the war.

They also expressed concern over the deployment of thousands of people. North Korean troops To Russia to fight against Ukraine.

Also Thursday, regional government head Serhii Lysak said Russia also struck Zelenskyy’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih, wounding 26 people. The missile attack damaged an administrative building, at least five multi-storey residential buildings, and civilian vehicles.

Meanwhile, the Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement that its air defense systems shot down two British-made Storm Shadow missiles, six HIMARS rockets and 67 unmanned aerial vehicles.

The statement did not specify when or where the Storm Shadows were shot or what they were targeting. Russia had previously reported that it shot down some of the missiles on the Crimean Peninsula, which it illegally annexed.

more than that 1000 days left until the warRussia has the upper hand as its larger army advances on Donetsk and Ukrainian civilians are subjected to incessant drone and missile attacks.

Analysts and observers say loosening restrictions on Ukraine’s use of Western missiles is unlikely to change the course of the war, but it puts the Russian military in a more vulnerable position and could complicate logistics vital to the war.

Putin also warned that the move would mean Russia and NATO were at war.

“This is a significant move and undermines Putin’s narrative that it is OK for Russia to rain down Iranian drones and North Korean missiles on Ukraine, but reckless escalation of Ukraine’s use of Western-supplied weapons is OK.” weakening. “We are attacking legitimate targets in Russia,” said former British national security adviser Peter Ricketts, who now sits in the House of Lords.

___ Associated Press writers Jill Lawless in London and Aamer Madhani, Tara Copp and Lolita C. Baldor in Washington contributed to this report. ___ Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine here: