Putin makes special address to the nation following latest missile attack on Russia

Russia admits a possibility of launching missile strikes on the facilities of the countries the weapons of which are used to attack Russia, President Vladimir Putin said. Putin released a special statement in connection with the recent attack with the use of ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles on facilities in Russia.

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org by The Presidential Press and Information Office, CC BY 4.0

Russia considers itself entitled to use weapons against the facilities of the countries that allow their weapons to be used against Russian facilities, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated in a special address.

"We will determine the targets for destruction during further tests of our latest missile systems, based on the threats to the security of the Russian Federation," Putin said.

Putin also said that in the event of an escalation of aggressive actions, Russia "will respond just as decisively and in kind."

Russia uses Oreshnik missile to strike Ukraine

In his address, Putin also said that Russia used the latest medium-range Oreshnik missile to strike Ukraine. The strike was carried out targeting a military-industrial facility, which was hit, the president added.

Putin's statement came in response to most recent strikes on Russian facilities with ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles.

On November 19, the Ukrainians used American ATACMS for the first time to strike Russia. Six such missiles were launched to hit the Bryansk region of Russia, the Russian Defence Ministry said.

On November 20, the Ukrainian military launched a massive missile attack to strike the Kursk region by firing at least 12 British Storm Shadow missiles.

Putin: Regional conflict in Ukraine takes global scale

The conflict in Ukraine has reached global proportions after Ukraine obtain permission from Western countries to use their long-range weapons to strike deep into Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a special address.

On November 19 and November 20, the Armed Forces of Ukraine launched US-made ATACMS missiles and British Storm Shadow systems in combination with American HIMARS to strike Russia's Bryansk and Kursk regions.

"From that moment, as we have repeatedly emphasized earlier, the regional conflict in Ukraine provoked by the West has acquired elements of global character," the president said.

Russian air defense systems repelled the attacks, their goals were not achieved, although people were injured during the latest shelling, he added.

Putin also said in his address that Russia now considers itself entitled to use its weapons "against military facilities of those countries that allow their weapons to be used against" Russian facilities. In the event of an escalation of aggressive actions Russia "will respond just as decisively and in kind."

In its most recent attack, Russia used a latest medium-range Oreshnik missile to strike Ukraine. The attack was conducted to strike a military-industrial facility. The target was hit, the president added.

"One of the newest Russian medium-range missile systems with a non-nuclear hypersonic ballistic missile was tested in combat conditions,” the Russian leader announced.