Putin threatens to target ‘decision-making centres in Kyiv’ with new Oreshnik IRBM missile
President Vladimir Putin has boasted that Russia produces ten times more missiles than all of the Nato countries combined, and threatened an attack on decision-making centres in Kyiv with its new intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) missile.
Appearing at the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) summit in Astana, Putin spoke about the capabilities of the Oreshnik missile.
He said that Russia had been forced to deploy the new missile “in response to the enemy’s actions” – a reference to the use of US and UK manufactured missiles inside Russian territory – and that there were “no analogues to the Russian Oreshnik in the world”. He said western equivalents would not appear any time soon.
In the event of a massive use of the Oreshnik, the force of the strike will be comparable to a nuclear weapon, he said.
He said decision-making centres in Kyiv could become a target for the Oreshnik missile, and pointed out that Ukraine has launched multiple attacks against Moscow and St Petersburg. Ukraine carried out its biggest drone strike on Moscow earlier this month.
US and UK sources indicated to the Guardian last week that they believed the Oreshnik missile fired on Dnipro was an experimental nuclear-capable, intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), which has a theoretical range of below 3,420 miles (5,500km). That is enough to reach Europe from where it was fired in south-western Russia, but not the US.
Tass reports that in Kazakhstan, Putin also said that other new missile systems could appear and that Russia will continue combat tests of the Oreshnik.
Key events
Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, reports that, while the earlier emergency blackouts have ended, Ukraine’s energy company Ukrenergo has said it still expects there to be “three rounds of blackouts” until the end of the day, warning that “the time of application and the amount of restrictions may change during the day.”
Reuters is carrying fuller quotes now from Vladimir Putin’s speech in Kazakhstan, where he threatened the use of the new Oreshnik missile on Kyiv.
It quotes the Russian president saying:
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 21 November.
At present, the ministry of defence and the general staff are selecting targets to hit on Ukrainian territory. These could be military facilities, defence and industrial enterprises, or decision-making centres in Kyiv.
Putin is attending the Collective Security Treaty Organization summit in Astana, a grouping which includes Armenia, Belarus, hosts Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan alongside Russia.
Putin claims 17 targets hit in Ukraine during overnight strikes
During his appearance at the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) summit in Astana, Russia’s president Vladimir Putin said that overnight 17 targets within Ukraine were struck.
Tass quotes Putin saying:
Tonight we carried out a comprehensive strike using 90 missiles of similar classes and 100 drones. We hit 17 targets: military facilities, defence industry facilities and their support systems.
Ukrainian authorities said the attacks had been aimed at energy infrastructure, and that earlier on Thursday at least one million people had been left without power after the attack caused emergency blackouts.
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed that Russia had used cluster munitions, which he described as “a very vile escalation of Russian terrorist tactics.”
Russia and Ukraine return small number of children to families after mediation by Qatar
Russia and Ukraine have agreed to return to each other a total of nine children to be reunited with family members, according to a senior Russian official.
Reuters reports that Russia’s commissioner for children, Maria Lvova-Belova, said on Thursday that six boys and one girl, aged six to 16, were being returned to relatives in Ukraine. She added that Qatari mediation had also enabled the repatriation of two young Russian boys, aged seven and nine, from Ukraine.
In March 2023 the international criminal court issued a warrant for the arrest of Lvova-Belova, alongside president Vladimir Putin, after a panel of judges agreed that there were “reasonable grounds” to believe they bore responsibility for the “unlawful deportation” of Ukrainian children.
The UK’s ambassador to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has accused Russia of creating “a humanitarian crisis in Ukraine” and called recent attacks on the country’s energy infrastructure “deeply concerning.”
In a speech delivered in Vienna on Thursday, Neil Holland said:
Over the past month, Russia has intensified its airstrikes, primarily targeting energy infrastructure causing rolling blackouts in several regions. Last night’s attacks were the latest in a series. As winter approaches and temperatures plummet, this additional strain on the energy grid is deeply concerning and will disproportionately affect the vulnerable, including the elderly and frail.
Repeated attacks on civilian infrastructure and restrictions on aid delivery have exacerbated the suffering of vulnerable populations. The suffering in Ukraine cannot be ignored. It is our collective responsibility to act decisively to alleviate this humanitarian crisis.
Reuters reports a Russian court sentenced a defence lawyer, Dmitry Talantov, who is 63 and has represented critics of Moscow’s war in Ukraine, to seven years in prison. Talantov was accused of writing Facebook posts which condemned the actions of Russian soldiers in Ukraine.
Putin threatens to target ‘decision-making centres in Kyiv’ with new Oreshnik IRBM missile
President Vladimir Putin has boasted that Russia produces ten times more missiles than all of the Nato countries combined, and threatened an attack on decision-making centres in Kyiv with its new intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) missile.
Appearing at the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) summit in Astana, Putin spoke about the capabilities of the Oreshnik missile.
He said that Russia had been forced to deploy the new missile “in response to the enemy’s actions” – a reference to the use of US and UK manufactured missiles inside Russian territory – and that there were “no analogues to the Russian Oreshnik in the world”. He said western equivalents would not appear any time soon.
In the event of a massive use of the Oreshnik, the force of the strike will be comparable to a nuclear weapon, he said.
He said decision-making centres in Kyiv could become a target for the Oreshnik missile, and pointed out that Ukraine has launched multiple attacks against Moscow and St Petersburg. Ukraine carried out its biggest drone strike on Moscow earlier this month.
US and UK sources indicated to the Guardian last week that they believed the Oreshnik missile fired on Dnipro was an experimental nuclear-capable, intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), which has a theoretical range of below 3,420 miles (5,500km). That is enough to reach Europe from where it was fired in south-western Russia, but not the US.
Tass reports that in Kazakhstan, Putin also said that other new missile systems could appear and that Russia will continue combat tests of the Oreshnik.
Ukraine’s energy company says emergency power blackouts have ended
Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, reports that emergency power blackouts in the country have ended.
This does not mean that everybody will remain with power for the rest of the day. Ukrenergo announced that “all customers return to hourly outage schedules”.
Tass reports that Russia claims it shot down one of Ukraine’s Neptune guided missiles overnight.
Ukraine’s air force has claimed it shot down 79 out of 91 missiles fired by Russian, and downed 35 out of 97 drones, Reuters reports.
Zelenskyy claims use of ‘cluster munitions’ is a ‘vile escalation of Russian terrorist tactics’
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has claimed that Russia used cluster munitions in a massive strike at Ukraine’s energy infrastructure overnight, describing it as “a very vile escalation of Russian terrorist tactics.”
Ukraine’s president, in a message posted to Telegram, said that about 100 drones and 90 missiles were involved in the attack, adding:
In several regions, Kalibr strikes with cluster munitions were recorded, specifically on civilian infrastructure. These cluster parts make it much more difficult for our rescuers and energy workers to eliminate the consequences of the impact, and this is a very vile escalation of Russian terrorist tactics.
Earlier authorities in Ukraine reported that at least one million people were without power. Missile debris was reported at two locations in Kyiv, but local authorities claimed that air defences intercepted all of the missiles fired at the capital. Many other regions reported strikes.
Zelenskyy reiterated Ukraine’s appeal for better air defences in his message, saying:
Each such attack proves that air defence systems are needed now in Ukraine, where they save lives, and not in storage bases. This is especially important in the winter, when we have to protect our infrastructure from targeted Russian strikes. We are constantly working with partners to have more power to defend and timely delivery now and full implementation of agreements particularly on air defense is what is most needed.
Ukraine disconnected several nuclear power units from the network amid Russian attacks on energy infrastructure on Thursday, a Ukrainian energy industry source told Reuters.
This map from our interactive team shows the location of Ukraine’s three operational nuclear power plants, along with the Zaporizhzhia plant, which has been occupied by Russian forces since nearly the very beginning of the invasion, and the location of Chernobyl, site of the accident in 1986.
Reuters reports that a source in Ukraine’s energy industry told it that overnight Russia struck infrastructure with “a hard blow”, and claimed cluster munitions were deployed. The claims have not been independently verified.
In Russia, Tass reports that authorities in Kursk have opened a criminal case against Ukrainian service personnel after two civilians were injured in a drone attack on vehicles on Wednesday.
“During the preliminary investigation, all representatives of the armed formations of Ukraine involved in this crime will be identified and brought to justice as provided by law,” the main military investigation department said.
Ukraine launched in incursion into Kursk in August.
One million people reported without power in Ukraine after Russian attacks on energy infrastructure
At least one million people are without power across Ukraine after a large Russian overnight missile attack on energy infrastructure in the country.
Reuters reports that three regions in the west are affected by the power outages. Maksym Kozytskyi, governor of Ukraine’s western region, reported energy infrastructure attacks there, and said more than half a million people in the region were without power. Missiles were detected overnight headed for Kharkiv, Odesa and eight other regions
Missile debris was reported at two locations in Kyiv, but local authorities claimed that air defences intercepted all of the missiles fired at the capital. Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported damage to property but no casualties.
The national power grid operator Ukrenergo had “urgently introduced emergency power cuts”, said the energy minister, German Galushchenko. The temperature in Kyiv was not expected to rise above 2C (35.6F) today.
Russia’s ministry of defence claimed to have destroyed 25 Ukrainian drones overnight in four regions, including the Moscow-annexed Crimea, which Russia seized in 2014.