Russia is selecting targets in Ukraine that could include “decision-making centres” in Kyiv in response to Ukrainian long-range strikes on Russian territory with Western weapons, Vladimir Putin has said.
Attacks launched by Moscow have not so far struck government buildings in the Ukrainian capital, which is heavily protected by air defences.
Putin says Russia’s Oreshnik hypersonic missile, which it fired for the first time at a Ukrainian city last week, is incapable of being intercepted – although that claim has been questioned by at least one expert (see 7.55 post).
“Of course, we will respond to the ongoing strikes on Russian territory with long-range Western-made missiles, as has already been said, including by possibly continuing to test the Oreshnik in combat conditions,” Putin told a meeting of a security alliance of ex-Soviet countries in Kazakhstan.
“At present, the Ministry of Defence and the General Staff are selecting targets to hit on Ukrainian territory. These could be military facilities, defence and industrial enterprises, or decision-making centres in Kyiv.”
Russia says Ukraine fired ATACMS ballistic missiles supplied by the US into western Russia for the first time on 19 November, prompting it to respond two days later by firing the Oreshnik, a new intermediate-range missile, at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro.
Since then, Russia says Ukraine fired more ATACMS at its Kursk region on 23 and 25 November.
Putin claimed Russia’s production of advanced missile systems exceeds that of the NATO military alliance by 10 times, and that Moscow plans to ramp up production further.
