According to Reuters , Russian President Putin made the statement a day after his country fired a new medium-range weapon into Ukraine for the first time, a move he said was in response to Ukraine's use of US ballistic missiles and British cruise missiles to attack Russian territory.
Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Photo: Reuters)
The Russian president described the first use of the Oreshnik missile as a successful test and said there would be more tests.
"We will continue these tests, including in combat conditions, depending on the situation and the nature of security threats to Russia," Putin said in a televised speech.
"We have such an arsenal, such systems are ready for use," Putin added.
However, US officials assess that Russia has limited numbers and is not capable of regular deployment on the battlefield.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Kiev was working with Western partners to build a system to counter "new risks".
Intermediate-range missiles have a range of 3,000 to 5,500 km, allowing them to strike anywhere in Europe or the western United States from Russia.
Security experts say the new feature of the Oreshnik missile is that it can carry multiple warheads and has the ability to attack different targets at the same time - something commonly found in long-range intercontinental ballistic missiles designed to carry nuclear warheads.
Ukraine said the missile reached a maximum speed of more than 13,000 km/h and took about 15 minutes to reach its target from launch.
The missile launch comes amid a sharp escalation in tensions this week as both Ukraine and Russia have attacked each other's territory with increasingly powerful weapons.
Moscow said that by giving Ukraine the green light to fire Western missiles deep into Russia, the United States and its allies were directly involved in the conflict with Russia.
On November 19, Russian President Putin approved policy changes that lower the threshold for Moscow to use nuclear weapons in response to an attack.
Source: https://vtcnews.vn/ong-putin-tuyen-bo-tiep-tuc-thu-nghiem-ten-lua-moi-ar909123.html
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