Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Thursday that the conflict in Ukraine is escalating into a global confrontation, accusing the United States and Britain of enabling Ukraine to attack Russian territory using advanced Western weapons.
He cautioned that Moscow could retaliate against nations supplying arms used in such strikes, underscoring the widening implications of the ongoing war.
In a televised address, Putin stated that Ukraine’s deployment of U.S.-made ATACMS missiles, British Storm Shadow missiles, and U.S.-provided HIMARS artillery had marked a critical turning point.
According to Putin, these attacks were launched on November 19 and 21 with approval from the Biden administration.
While Putin downplayed the impact of the ATACMS strike, he said that a Storm Shadow missile attack in Russia’s Kursk region targeted a command center, resulting in unspecified casualties.
He criticized Western nations for provoking what he described as a regional crisis turning into a global confrontation.
“We consider ourselves entitled to use our weapons against military facilities in countries enabling attacks on our own facilities,” Putin said, issuing a stern warning to those involved in supporting Kyiv.
He accused the United States of pushing the world closer to a broader conflict and vowed decisive action if such attacks continued.
New Missile Deployment and Strikes on Ukrainian Facility
As part of Moscow’s response, Putin announced the deployment of a new medium-range hypersonic ballistic missile, the “Oreshnik” (Hazel). He claimed the missile had been successfully tested and used to strike a Ukrainian military facility in the city of Dnipro, targeting the Pivdenmash missile and space rocket enterprise, known in Russia as Yuzhmash.
The site was destroyed, according to Putin, as part of efforts to counter potential U.S. deployment of similar weapons in Europe and Asia.
The development of the Oreshnik missile, Putin noted, was prompted by the U.S. withdrawal from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in 2019.
The treaty’s collapse has led to heightened tensions over missile deployments, with Russia accusing the West of destabilizing the balance of power.
“Russia voluntarily refrained from deploying such weapons until the U.S. introduced them elsewhere,” Putin said, adding that Moscow’s future actions would depend on Western military movements.
Broader Implications of the Conflict
Currently, Russia occupies approximately 18% of Ukraine’s territory, including Crimea, annexed in 2014, and parts of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions. Western nations and Ukraine see Russia’s actions as an imperialist bid to seize sovereign territory. Concerns have been raised that a Russian victory in Ukraine could embolden Moscow to target NATO member states.
Despite these warnings, Putin dismissed suggestions that Ukrainian attacks using Western-supplied weapons could alter the course of the conflict. He reiterated Russia’s commitment to achieving its objectives in Ukraine.
As the war grinds on, fears of a broader confrontation persist, with both sides entrenching their positions and the specter of further escalation looming large over the region.
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