The News
Russia is developing new weapons similar to the experimental intermediate range ballistic missile that the Kremlin fired on Ukraine on Thursday, as it seeks to expand its arsenal, President Vladimir Putin said in a public meeting with senior defense officials.
Putin also said that Russia would continue using the powerful Oreshnik missiles, which carry multiple warheads and can hit top speeds of 8,000 mph, in combat “depending on the situation and the nature of the security threats.” The Kremlin’s top nuclear commander said the weapons “can hit targets throughout all of Europe.”
The firing of the new ballistic missile marked a week of escalating tensions, as Ukraine started shooting Western missiles into Russian territory following Washington’s move to allow Kyiv’s use of the weapons, and Putin lowered Moscow’s threshold for the use of nuclear arms.
“Putin is saying to the West, ’stop, halt, back off,’” a former Kremlin adviser told Reuters.
The Russian president has said that the missiles cannot be stopped by Western air defenses, although analysts noted that Russia has previously made similar claims about weapons that ultimately proved to be less capable than expected.
US officials have stressed that there is no sign that Russia is preparing to use nuclear weapons, and an administration official told Semafor that Russia likely only has a “handful” of the missiles used to strike Ukraine.