By Burc Eruygur
ISTANBUL (AA) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said that his country struck a plant in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro using a new hypersonic medium-range ballistic missile.
Initially, Ukraine’s Air Force claimed that Moscow launched an intercontinental ballistic missile during an attack on the city of Dnipro early in the morning, which President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also confirmed in a later video address. But, he said that expert evaluations to confirm the exact model of the missile used are underway.
“One of the largest and well-known industrial complexes from the Soviet Union, which today produces missile technology and other weapons, was hit in the city of Dnipro in Ukraine,” Putin said in a live video address.
Russian Telegram channels earlier in the day said that the attack targeted the plant of Pivdenmash, Ukraine's state-owned aerospace manufacturer headquartered in Dnipro.
Noting that the ongoing conflict in Ukraine has gained “elements of a global nature," Putin said the strike was conducted by testing a new Russian medium-range missile system named Oreshnik, which he said, in this case, utilized a ballistic missile with "non-nuclear hypersonic" equipment.
Putin said such missiles are being developed by Russia in "response to the US plans to produce and deploy intermediate- and shorter-range missiles in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.”
Putin further said that Russia is entitled to use weapons against military facilities of countries that are using their weapons against Moscow, adding that Russia’s response to escalation in Ukraine will be “decisive and in kind.”
“I recommend that the ruling elites of those countries that are hatching plans to use their military contingents against Russia seriously think about this,” he added.
Ukrainian authorities have yet to confirm whether the Pivdenmash plant was hit during the attack.