Putin threatens to target ‘decision-making centres in Kyiv’ with new Oreshnik IRBM missile
President Vladimir Putin has boasted that Russia produces ten times more missiles than all of the Nato countries combined, and threatened an attack on decision-making centres in Kyiv with its new intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) missile.
Appearing at the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) summit in Astana, Putin spoke about the capabilities of the Oreshnik missile.
He said that Russia had been forced to deploy the new missile âin response to the enemyâs actionsâ â a reference to the use of US and UK manufactured missiles inside Russian territory â and that there were âno analogues to the Russian Oreshnik in the worldâ. He said western equivalents would not appear any time soon.
In the event of a massive use of the Oreshnik, the force of the strike will be comparable to a nuclear weapon, he said.
He said decision-making centres in Kyiv could become a target for the Oreshnik missile, and pointed out that Ukraine has launched multiple attacks against Moscow and St Petersburg. Ukraine carried out its biggest drone strike on Moscow earlier this month.
US and UK sources indicated to the Guardian last week that they believed the Oreshnik missile fired on Dnipro was an experimental nuclear-capable, intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), which has a theoretical range of below 3,420 miles (5,500km). That is enough to reach Europe from where it was fired in south-western Russia, but not the US.
Tass reports that in Kazakhstan, Putin also said that other new missile systems could appear and that Russia will continue combat tests of the Oreshnik.
Key events
Kyiv said on Thursday that Russian forces had shot dead five Ukrainian soldiers who had surrendered in the eastern Zaporizhzhia region, marking the latest war crimes allegations levied against Moscow.
Both Moscow and Kyiv have accused each otherâs armies of committing atrocities since Russian forces launched their full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Prosecutors said the incident had taken place on 24 November near the village of Novodarivka in the Pologiv district of the Zaporizhzhia region, reports AFP.
âServicemen of the Russian armed forces shot dead five Ukrainian defenders out of six who had been taken prisoner,â a statement read.
There was no immediate response to the accusations from Moscow, which claimed to have annexed Zaporizhzhia along with three other partially occupied Ukrainian territories in late 2022.
Ukrainian human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said he had contacted the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) over the allegations.
The German defence ministry has said Patriot missile units could be deployed in Poland from early 2025 for up to six months, says Reuters.
âWith this we will protect a logistical hub in Poland which is of central importance for the delivery of materials to Ukraine,â German defence minister Boris Pistorius said.
Tass, citing the local regional governor, reports that two civilians were injured in Belgorod region after a Ukrainian drone attack. It also reports that Russiaâs air defences have destroyed a Ukrainian drone over Bryansk region.
Ukraineâs air force said on Thursday that Russia made 12 strikes on Ukrainian targets in an overnight aerial attack which mostly targeted fuel and energy infrastructure, Reuters reports.
Earlier Russiaâs president Vladimir Putin, speaking in Astana, said Russia had struck 17 targets which were âmilitary facilities, defence industry facilities and their support systems.â
Summary of the day so far â¦
It is 2pm in Kyiv and 3pm in Moscow. Here are the headlines â¦
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Russiaâs president Vladimir Putin has threatened to strike at âdecision-making centres in Kyivâ with his countryâs new Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) missile. Putin said officials were drawing up a list of targets, and Russia would continue combat tests of the missile
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Speaking at the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) summit in Astana, Putin also boasted that Russia was producing ten times as many advanced missile system as Nato countries collectively were able to manage. He said that overnight Russia had used 90 missiles of and 100 drones to strike 17 targets in Ukraine, which he described as âmilitary facilities, defence industry facilities and their support systemsâ
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Ukraineâs president Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed that Russia had used cluster munitions, overnight, which he described as âa very vile escalation of Russian terrorist tacticsâ
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Ukrainian authorities said the attacks had been aimed at energy infrastructure, and earlier today at least one million people had been left without power. Ukraineâs energy company Ukrenergo said the emergency blackouts had ended, but warned of âthree rounds of blackoutsâ occurring before the end of the day
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Russiaâs air defence systems destroyed 25 Ukrainian drones overnight over four regions, the defence ministry said on Thursday. It also claimed to have intercepted a Neptune guided missile
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Russian authorities in Kursk have opened a criminal case against Ukrainian service personnel after two civilians were injured in a drone attack on vehicles on Wednesday
Here are some images from Ukraine of the aftermath of the overnight Russian attack.
Suspilne, Ukraineâs state broadcaster, reports that, while the earlier emergency blackouts have ended, Ukraineâs energy company Ukrenergo has said it still expects there to be âthree rounds of blackoutsâ until the end of the day, warning that âthe time of application and the amount of restrictions may change during the dayâ.
Reuters is carrying fuller quotes now from Vladimir Putinâs speech in Kazakhstan, where he threatened the use of the new Oreshnik missile on Kyiv.
It quotes the Russian president saying:
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, as was done on 21 November.
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.
Putin is attending the Collective Security Treaty Organization summit in Astana, a grouping which includes Armenia, Belarus, hosts Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan alongside Russia.
Putin claims 17 targets hit in Ukraine during overnight strikes
During his appearance at the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) summit in Astana, Russiaâs president Vladimir Putin said that overnight 17 targets within Ukraine were struck.
Tass quotes Putin saying:
Tonight we carried out a comprehensive strike using 90 missiles of similar classes and 100 drones. We hit 17 targets: military facilities, defence industry facilities and their support systems.
Ukrainian authorities said the attacks had been aimed at energy infrastructure, and that earlier on Thursday at least one million people had been left without power after the attack caused emergency blackouts.
Ukraineâs president Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed that Russia had used cluster munitions, which he described as âa very vile escalation of Russian terrorist tactics.â
Russia and Ukraine return small number of children to families after mediation by Qatar
Russia and Ukraine have agreed to return to each other a total of nine children to be reunited with family members, according to a senior Russian official.
Reuters reports that Russiaâs commissioner for children, Maria Lvova-Belova, said on Thursday that six boys and one girl, aged six to 16, were being returned to relatives in Ukraine. She added that Qatari mediation had also enabled the repatriation of two young Russian boys, aged seven and nine, from Ukraine.
In March 2023 the international criminal court issued a warrant for the arrest of Lvova-Belova, alongside president Vladimir Putin, after a panel of judges agreed that there were âreasonable groundsâ to believe they bore responsibility for the âunlawful deportationâ of Ukrainian children.
The UKâs ambassador to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has accused Russia of creating âa humanitarian crisis in Ukraineâ and called recent attacks on the countryâs energy infrastructure âdeeply concerning.â
In a speech delivered in Vienna on Thursday, Neil Holland said:
Over the past month, Russia has intensified its airstrikes, primarily targeting energy infrastructure causing rolling blackouts in several regions. Last nightâs attacks were the latest in a series. As winter approaches and temperatures plummet, this additional strain on the energy grid is deeply concerning and will disproportionately affect the vulnerable, including the elderly and frail.
Repeated attacks on civilian infrastructure and restrictions on aid delivery have exacerbated the suffering of vulnerable populations. The suffering in Ukraine cannot be ignored. It is our collective responsibility to act decisively to alleviate this humanitarian crisis.