Russian President Putin released a statement on Thursday following the escalating events this week in the war with Ukraine and NATO.
This came after Ukrainian and NATO forces launched long-range US and British missiles into Russia this week, just days after Joe Biden’s handlers approved of this maneuver.
The Biden regime and his handlers are determined to escalate this conflict into a global crisis just two weeks after President Trump won a decisive victory in the US presidential race.
Putin made the statement on Russian television after Russia launched a hypersonic ballistic attack on Ukraine on Thursday.
Putin said that six U.S.-manufactured ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles struck Bryansk on November 19, followed by a coordinated assault involving British Storm Shadow missiles and U.S.-made HIMARS systems on November 21.
In response, the Russian Armed Forces launched a combined strike on a Ukrainian defense industrial complex in Dnepropetrovsk on November 21.
Putin revealed that the attack included a combat test of a new hypersonic ballistic missile, the Oreshnik, capable of reaching speeds of Mach 10.
The Russian leader issued a stark warning to nations supporting Ukraine with military equipment, suggesting that any escalation could prompt retaliatory strikes on their military facilities.
Putin also criticized the United States for its withdrawal from the INF Treaty in 2019, blaming the move for destabilizing international security. He accused the U.S. of deploying advanced missile systems worldwide under the guise of military exercises, a development he called a grave error.
He emphasized that Russia would notify civilians and foreign nationals in targeted areas before conducting strikes, citing humanitarian concerns. However, he expressed confidence in the invincibility of Russia’s hypersonic missile systems, declaring, “There are no means of countering such weapons today.”
“I would like to inform the military personnel of the Russian Federation Armed Forces, citizens of our country, our friends across the globe, and those who persist in the illusion that a strategic defeat can be inflicted upon Russia, about the events taking place today in the zone of the special military operation, specifically following the attacks by Western long-range weapons against our territory.
The escalation of the conflict in Ukraine, instigated by the West, continues with the United States and its NATO allies previously announcing that they authorise the use of their long-range high-precision weapons for strikes inside the Russian Federation.
Experts are well aware, and the Russian side has repeatedly highlighted it, that the use of such weapons is not possible without the direct involvement of military experts from the manufacturing nations.
On November 19, six ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles produced by the United States, and on November 21, during a combined missile assault involving British Storm Shadow systems and HIMARS systems produced by the US, attacked military facilities inside the Russian Federation in the Bryansk and Kursk regions.
From that point onward, as we have repeatedly emphasised in prior communications, the regional conflict in Ukraine provoked by the West has assumed elements of a global nature. Our air defence systems successfully counteracted these incursions, preventing the enemy from achieving their apparent objectives.
The fire at the ammunition depot in the Bryansk Region, caused by the debris of ATACMS missiles, was extinguished without casualties or significant damage.
In the Kursk Region, the attack targeted one of the command posts of our group North. Regrettably, the attack and the subsequent air defence battle resulted in casualties, both fatalities and injuries, among the perimeter security units and servicing staff.
However, the command and operational staff of the control centre suffered no casualties and continues to manage effectively the operations of our forces to eliminate and push enemy units out of the Kursk Region.
I wish to underscore once again that the use by the enemy of such weapons cannot affect the course of combat operations in the special military operation zone. Our forces are making successful advances along the entire line of contact, and all objectives we have set will be accomplished.
In response to the deployment of American and British long-range weapons, on November 21, the Russian Armed Forces delivered a combined strike on a facility within Ukraine’s defence industrial complex.
In field conditions, we also carried out tests of one of Russia’s latest medium-range missile systems – in this case, carrying a non-nuclear hypersonic ballistic missile that our engineers named Oreshnik.
The tests were successful, achieving the intended objective of the launch. In the city of Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, one of the largest and most famous industrial complexes from the Soviet Union era, which continues to produce missiles and other armaments, was hit.
We are developing intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles in response to US plans to produce and deploy intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.
We believe that the United States made a mistake by unilaterally destroying the INF Treaty in 2019 under far-fetched pretext.
Today, the United States is not only producing such equipment, but, as we can see, it has worked out ways to deploy its advanced missile systems to different regions of the world, including Europe, during training exercises for its troops. Moreover, in the course of these exercises, they are conducting training for using them.
As a reminder, Russia has voluntarily and unilaterally committed not to deploy intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles until US weapons of this kind appear in any region of the world.
To reiterate, we are conducting combat tests of the Oreshnik missile system in response to NATO’s aggressive actions against Russia. Our decision on further deployment of intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles will depend on the actions of the United States and its satellites.
We will determine the targets during further tests of our advanced missile systems based on the threats to the security of the Russian Federation.
We consider ourselves entitled to use our weapons against military facilities of those countries that allow to use their weapons against our facilities, and in case of an escalation of aggressive actions, we will respond decisively and in mirror-like manner.
I recommend that the ruling elites of the countries that are hatching plans to use their military contingents against Russia seriously consider this.
It goes without saying that when choosing, if necessary and as a retaliatory measure, targets to be hit by systems such as Oreshnik on Ukrainian territory, we will in advance suggest that civilians and citizens of friendly countries residing in those areas leave danger zones.
We will do so for humanitarian reasons, openly and publicly, without fear of counter-moves coming from the enemy, who will also be receiving this information.
Why without fear? Because there are no means of countering such weapons today. Missiles attack targets at a speed of Mach 10, which is 2.5 to 3 kilometres per second.
Air defence systems currently available in the world and missile defence systems being created by the Americans in Europe cannot intercept such missiles. It is impossible.
I would like to emphasise once again that it was not Russia, but the United States that destroyed the international security system and, by continuing to fight, cling to its hegemony, they are pushing the whole world into a global conflict.
We have always preferred and are ready now to resolve all disputes by peaceful means. But we are also ready for any turn of events.
If anyone still doubts this, make no mistake: there will always be a response.”