Moscow must be “forced” into peace through strength, the Ukrainian leader has said
Vladimir Zelensky has demanded a “strong reaction” from the world to Russia’s use of its latest hypersonic ballistic missile system for a strike on Ukrainian territory on Thursday.
Russia fired the new weapon in a “non-nuclear variant” at a military industrial facility in Dnepropetrovsk (known as Dnipro in Ukraine), President Vladimir Putin confirmed in an address the same day. He described the operation as a “field test” of the system dubbed ‘Oreshnik’ (Hazel), conducted in response to Ukrainian strikes with Western missiles on Russia’s Kursk and Bryansk regions earlier this week.
”The world must respond,” Zelensky stated in a post on social media late on Thursday evening. “Right now, there is no strong reaction from the world.” He said that this “sends a message” to Russia that “such behavior is acceptable.”
“Russia must be forced into real peace, which can only be achieved through strength,” he insisted. “Otherwise, there will be endless Russian strikes, threats, and destabilization – not just against Ukraine,” Zelensky claimed.
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Last week, US President Joe Biden reportedly authorized the use of American-made ATACMS ballistic missiles against targets inside internationally recognized Russian territory. The British government apparently made a similar policy shift regarding Storm Shadow cruise missiles.
Neither government has officially confirmed lifting previous restrictions, but both weapon systems were used in the Ukrainian attacks this week, which Putin said prompted the demonstration of the ‘Oreshnik’ capability.
“We consider ourselves entitled to use our weapons against military facilities of those countries that allow using their weapons against our facilities,” the Russian president stressed.
Zelensky meanwhile, said that “it was not the first time that” Ukraine had used ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles.
READ MORE: US ‘will not be deterred’ by Russia’s new missile – White House
Western donors reportedly supplied the missiles under condition that they would not be used outside of what Kiev claims under its sovereignty, including Russia’s Crimea. The Russian military has reported intercepting ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles on multiple occasions in engagements that complied with those terms.
The Ukrainian leader did not explain why he believed that the Ukrainian strikes this week were not substantially different from previous ones.
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