Putin confirms Russia fired new ballistic missile at Ukraine

President Vladimir Putin confirmed that Russia fired a new hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile into Ukraine on Thursday in response to Kyiv’s use of advanced weapons provided by the U.S. and U.K. earlier this week, marking another escalation in the intensifying war.

In a televised statement, the Russian president claimed the new missile, nicknamed “Oreshnik,” struck an industrial complex in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. Putin said that “as of today there are no means of counteracting such a weapon,” asserting that the new missiles move at 2.5-3 kilometers (1.6-1.9 miles) per second — a speed he claimed air defense systems used by the U.S. and Europe “cannot intercept.”

Putin also leveled a threat at Ukraine’s backers, saying: “We consider ourselves entitled to use our weapons against the military facilities of those countries that allow their weapons to be used against our facilities. In the event of an escalation of aggressive actions, we will respond just as decisively and symmetrically.”

The move comes after U.S. President Joe Biden reversed his long-standing position and authorized Kyiv’s use of American-supplied long-range missiles to strike targets within Russia last weekend, prompting Ukraine to use U.S.-manufactured Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS, to strike Russia’s Bryansk region on Tuesday. Ukraine also reportedly fired British Storm Shadow missiles at targets inside Russia this week. Biden also reversed his position on giving Ukraine anti-personnel landmines.

Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh confirmed that Russia launched the experimental missile, saying  during a press conference on Thursday that the “new type of lethal capability” is “of concern” to the U.S. Singh also said Russia notified the U.S. shortly before the attack.

Earlier in the day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had accused Moscow of firing an intercontinental ballistic missile into Ukraine, writing on social media that the move was a “clear and severe escalation in the scale and brutality of this war,” and noting that the missile use was yet another Russian escalation, after it deployed thousands of North Korean troops to serve alongside its own in its war against Ukraine.

In his nightly address, Zelenskyy said Thursday that Russia’s decision to deploy the missile was a sign of “how terrified” Moscow is of Ukraine.