Vladimir Putin has threatened to use a missile which he claimed was “comparable in strength to a nuclear strike” against Ukraine.
Russian president said on Thursday: “We do not rule out the use of Oreshnik against the military, military-industrial facilities or decision-making centres, including in Kyiv.”
Putin told reporters at a Kazakhstan press conference that this ballistic missile is “comparable in strength to a nuclear strike” if used repeatedly on one area.
According to The Guardian, he said: “The kinetic impact is powerful, like a meteorite falling. We know in history what meteorites have fallen where, and what the consequences were. Sometimes it was enough for whole lakes to form.”
The president also claimed the weapons could not be shot down by any air defence system, like the ones which protect Kyiv.
However, he did clarify that Oreshniks – which were used against against the Ukrainian city of Dnipro earlier this month– are not currently fitted with nuclear warheads.
The threat comes amid growing fears that Putin could reach for the nuclear button in the war against Ukraine.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this was a “despicable escalation” from Putin, while his team dismissed Russia’s claim that Oreshniks could not be shut down as “fiction, of course”.
Zelenskyy’s adviser Mykhailo Podolyak also claimed there was “no such thing” as the Oreshnik missile, and that was just a modified version of the Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles.
According to the UK’s Ministry of Defence, Russia “highly likely” has just a “handful” of these missiles, which are yet to enter serial production.
The UK officials said the missiles are most probably “far more expensive than the other missiles Russia is currently using against Ukraine”.
Still, Moscow has suggested that this threat was triggered by the UK and the US’s decisions to give Kyiv permission to use their long-range missiles against Russia – although president-elect Donald Trump could withdraw that authorisation when he gets into power in January.
The UK’s ministry of defence said: “This missile is highly likely to be far more expensive than other missiles Russia is currently using against Ukraine.”
Putin also used the press conference on Thursday to praise Trump and said he was shocked by the assassination attempt on the Republican in the run-up to the election.
He said: “in my opinion, he is not safe now. Unfortunately, in the history of the United States, various incidents have happened. I think he is intelligent and I hope he’s cautious and understands this.”
Russian state news agency TASS also reported that Putin had slammed the verbal attacks against Trump’s family.
“The biggest thing for me was that while attacking [Trump] as part of the election campaign, they not only subjected him to humiliating, unfounded judicial proceedings but also bashed his family, his children too. Even common thugs don’t do that here,” he said.
He added that he believes Trump will “find the solution” to the war and claimed Russia is ready to discuss a deal.
Moscow is expected to push for Kyiv to cede all of the land Russian troops currently occupy – which is about 20% of Ukraine’s whole territory – although Zelenskyy has previously made it clear that is a red line.