Putin Threatens Ukrainian Capital With New Hypersonic Missile

Putin Threatens Ukrainian Capital With New Hypersonic Missile

TYLER DURDEN

Another day, another record-setting Russian missile and drone attack on Ukraine at a moment the West is escalating its support to Kiev.

President Vladimir Putin announced to security officials at the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) summit in Kazakhstan  that 100 drones and 90 missiles were launched at Ukraine over the last 48 hours "in response to strikes deep" inside Russia.

These have included attacks with US and UK-supplied long-range missiles, which Russia has acknowledged killed and wounded some personnel, and damaged a radar site in Kursk.

"We carried out a comprehensive strike," Putin said Thursday. "It was a response to ongoing attacks on our territory using [U.S.-supplied] ATACMS missiles." 

He further warned that the Russian military is actively monitoring the locations of Ukraine's long-range weapons to determine "where they are" and issued a fresh warning over the new Oreshnik hypersonic ballistic missile.

He warned that more Oreshnik deployments would be necessary if Ukraine continues its attacks on Russian territory. Importantly he said that this advanced weapon, for which there is no defense, will target "decision-making centers" in Kiev.

The Russian leader boasted that the Oreshnik missile can turn targets "into dust" and that that multiple launches of the hypersonic weapon could be "comparable to a nuclear strike." He described it can reach speeds of "around three kilometers per second" and unleashed temperatures and energy "like the surface of the Sun" upon impact.

As for these latest attacks on Ukraine, the country's Energy Minister German Galushchenko acknowledged that the power infrastructure came "under massive enemy attack". This means emergency blackouts and conservation efforts have been imposed amid freezing temperatures.

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