In a significant escalation of the ongoing conflict, Russia launched a massive overnight attack on Ukraine, citing Kyiv's recent use of U.S. ATACMS ballistic missiles against Russian territory as the primary reason. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced this response during a summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organization in Kazakhstan on Thursday.
This latest strike marks the second targeting of Ukraine's energy infrastructure this month. According to Ukraine's Interior Ministry, the attacks damaged facilities in nine regions, leading Ukrenergo, the state grid operator, to declare extensive power cuts across the country.
The conflict intensified on November 19 when Ukraine fired ATACMS into western Russia for the first time, prompting Moscow to retaliate two days later by deploying the Oreshnik, a new intermediate-range missile, targeting the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. Subsequent missile exchanges include more ATACMS strikes by Ukraine on Russia's Kursk region on November 23 and 25, as well as British Storm Shadow cruise missiles, following agreements that allowed Ukraine to engage deep within Russian territory.
At the CSTO summit, Putin emphasized that these actions represent the "direct involvement" of Western nations in the armed conflict against Russia. He hinted at further retaliatory measures, stating that future responses might involve the use of the Oreshnik missile against key decision-making centers in Kyiv.
\"Of course, we will respond to the ongoing strikes on Russian territory with long-range Western-made missiles, as has already been said, including by possibly continuing to test the Oreshnik in combat conditions, as was done on November 21,\" Putin declared. He added that the Russian Ministry of Defense and General Staff are actively selecting targets within Ukraine, which could include military facilities, defense and industrial enterprises, or vital decision-making hubs in Kyiv.
Despite Kyiv's robust air defenses, Putin asserted that the Oreshnik missile is currently immune to interception. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned Putin's use of the Oreshnik as a strategy to derail efforts aimed at ending the conflict, specifically targeting moves by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.
\"He doesn't seek an end to this war. Moreover, Putin wants to prevent others from ending the war,\" Zelenskyy stated in his nightly video address. He criticized Putin's tactics as an attempt to escalate the situation and undermine international efforts to resolve the conflict.
Zelenskyy also mentioned ongoing discussions with Western leaders, including NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, to formulate a coordinated response to Russia's actions, which he described as efforts to prolong the war and make the situation increasingly unbearable.
Reference(s):
Russia says massive attack on Ukraine a response to ATACMS strikes
cgtn.com
