President Vladimir Putin on Thursday threatened to strike “decision-making centres” in Kyiv with Russia’s new hypersonic missile, hours after Moscow pummelled Ukraine’s energy grid in an attack that left a million people without power.
Russia fired more than 90 missiles and around 100 drones during the barrage, Kyiv said, in what the Kremlin chief called a “response” to Ukrainian strikes on his territory with Western missiles.
The nearly three-year war has seen a sharp escalation in recent days, with both sides deploying new weapons in a bid to gain the upper hand before US President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January.
“We do not rule out the use of Oreshnik against the military, military-industrial or decision-making centres, including in Kyiv,” Putin told a press conference in the Kazakh capital Astana, referring to the hypersonic missile.
Kyiv’s government district — an area of the capital where multiple government buildings are located — is protected with intense security, but fears for it have risen over the last week.
Russia last week tested its new Oreshnik ballistic missile on Ukraine, and Putin boasted on Thursday that firing several of the weapons at once would have the equivalent force of a nuclear strike, or a “meteorite” hit.
He earlier said the overnight barrage was a “response to continued attacks on our territory by (US) ATACMS missiles.”
“As I have said repeatedly, there will always be a response from our side.”
Putin also claimed Russia knew how many long-range weapons were given to Kyiv and where they were located.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Putin’s threat to strike Kyiv was a “testament to weakness” and said the West would not be perturbed by his words.
– ‘Despicable escalation’ –
The fresh strikes came as Ukrainians braced for a tough winter, with much of its energy infrastructure already damaged by almost three years of war, and as Russian troops advanced in eastern Ukraine.
Tensions have ratcheted up over the last few weeks as both sides look to secure an advantage on the battlefield ahead of Trump’s January inauguration.
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