Russia says used new missile in Ukraine to show West its 'reckless' actions will not go unanswered

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Russian President Vladimir Putin’s video statement conveyed a clear warning that "reckless" actions of the West will not go unanswered, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

“The core message is that Western nations, which produce missiles, supply them to Ukraine, and facilitate strikes on Russian territory, cannot expect their actions to go without a response,” Peskov told a press briefing in Moscow.

Putin, in a televised address on Thursday, said in response to the US and its NATO allies' authorization of the use of their long-range high-precision weapons for strikes inside Russia, Moscow struck a missile factory in Ukraine’s city of Dnipro with a non-nuclear hypersonic ballistic missile Oreshnik.

Ukraine attacked Russia's Bryansk region with six US-made ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles on Tuesday, and on Wednesday strikes with UK-made Storm Shadow and HIMARS were carried out on the Kursk region.

In Kursk, the attack targeted one of the Russian command posts of North group of forces and resulted in casualties.

Peskov said Putin remains open to “any contacts” aimed at de-escalating the conflict and finding a peaceful resolution.

By launching the Oreshnik missile, Russia has “clearly demonstrated” the scope of its potential response if its security concerns continue to be ignored, he added.

Peskov said the US administration got acquainted with Putin’s statement regarding the launch of the missile, noting its “comprehensive, logical, and unambiguous” tone.

Despite the lack of direct communication, Moscow is confident Washington understood the message, he said.

Regarding the Oreshnik missile launch, Peskov clarified that it is not an intercontinental ballistic missile, and therefore does not require advance notification to the US.

However, due to its ballistic nature, a standard automated alert was sent to Washington 30 minutes prior through Russia's National Center for Nuclear Hazard Reduction, he said.

Russia is also working on methods to warn Ukrainian civilians about impending strikes with Oreshnik, he said.

Peskov refrained from commenting on the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant, expressing skepticism about the ICC’s role in promoting peace in the Middle East.

Turning to US sanctions targeting Gazprombank, Peskov called them "an attempt to disrupt Russian gas supplies to Europe," emphasizing Russia’s resilience and assuring that alternative solutions for EU gas payments will be found, despite potential delays.

“Sanctions cannot completely block a country like Russia,” he stressed.