Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Mr. Putin’s acknowledgement of the use of the new weapon was another escalation in the war, now more than 1,000 days old, after the deployment of North Korean troops on Russian soil. File
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Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday (November 21, 2024) that a Russian attack on Ukraine with a new type of ballistic missile was a “clear and severe escalation” in the war and called for strong worldwide condemnation.

“This is a clear and severe escalation in the scale and brutality of this war,” Mr. Zelenskyy wrote on X, referring to a strike on the central city of Dnipro.

“The use of a ballistic missile against Ukraine today is yet more proof that Russia has no interest in peace,” he wrote.

“The world must respond,” he wrote. “Right now, there is no strong reaction from the world.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a television address, said Russia had responded to the use of U.S. and British missiles by Kyiv by firing a new kind of hypersonic medium-range ballistic missile at a Ukrainian military facility.

In his comments on X, Mr. Zelenskyy said Mr. Putin’s acknowledgement of the use of the new weapon was another escalation in the war, now more than 1,000 days old, after the deployment of North Korean troops on Russian soil.

“Putin is not only prolonging the war — he is spitting in the face of those in the world who genuinely want peace to be restored,” he wrote.

“The world must respond. Right now, there is no strong reaction from the world…A lack of tough reactions to Russia’s actions sends a message that such behavior is acceptable,” he added.

The ICBM attack on Ukraine comes two days after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a revised nuclear doctrine that formally lowers the threshold for the country’s use of nuclear weapons. File
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Ukraine says Russia launched an intercontinental ballistic missile overnight targeting Dnipro city in the central-east of the country, which, if confirmed, would be the first time Moscow has used such a missile in the war.

In a statement Thursday (November 21, 2024) on the Telegram messaging app, Ukraine’s air force did not specify the exact type of missile, but said it was launched from Russia’s Astrakhan region, which borders the Caspian Sea.

It said an intercontinental ballistic missile was fired at Dnipro city along with eight other missiles, and that the Ukrainian military shot down six of them.

EDITORIAL | ​Mad doctrine: On Russia’s revision of its nuclear doctrine

Two people were wounded as a result of the attack, and an industrial facility and a rehabilitation center for people with disabilities were damaged, according to local officials.

While the range of an ICBM would seem excessive for use against Ukraine, such missiles are designed to carry nuclear warheads, and the use of one would serve as a chilling reminder of Russia’s nuclear capability and a powerful message of potential escalation.

Revised nuclear doctrine

The attack comes two days after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a revised nuclear doctrine that formally lowers the threshold for the country’s use of nuclear weapons. Ukraine on Tuesday fired several American-supplied longer-range missiles and reportedly fired U.K.-made Storm Shadows on Wednesday into Russia.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement Thursday that its air defence systems shot down two British-made Storm Shadow missiles, six HIMARS rockets, and 67 drones. The announcement came in the ministry’s daily roundup regarding the military actions in Ukraine.

The statement didn’t say when or where exactly it happened or what the missiles were targeting. This is not Moscow’s first public announcement of the shooting down of Storm Shadow missiles, as Russia earlier reported downing some over the annexed Crimean Peninsula.

International dimension

The developments come as the war has taken on a growing international dimension with the arrival of North Korean troops to help Russia on the battlefield — a development that U.S. officials said prompted U.S. President Joe Biden’s policy shift on allowing Ukraine to fire longer-range U.S. missiles into Russia. The Kremlin responded with threats to escalate further.

Mr. Putin has previously warned the U.S. and other NATO allies that allowing Ukraine to use Western-supplied longer-range weapons to hit Russian territory would mean that Russia and NATO are at war.

And the new doctrine allows for a potential nuclear response by Moscow even to a conventional attack on Russia by any nation that is supported by a nuclear power.

While the doctrine envisions a possible nuclear response by Russia to a conventional strike, it is formulated broadly to avoid a firm commitment to use nuclear weapons and keep Putin’s options open.

Moscow:

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for an urgent meeting of Moscow’s top security council to discuss its nuclear deterrence. The move comes amid rising concerns in Russia over Ukraine being allowed by Western powers to use cruise missiles to target locations deep inside Russia.

Last week the UK reportedly cleared the use of its ‘Storm Shadow’ cruise missile to be used to bomb Russia. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer even flew to Washington DC to meet US President Joe Biden. The two leaders reportedly discussed Ukraine’s use of weapons on Russian soil.

The Russian intelligence had information about such a possibility and had said earlier this month that “It has become necessary for Moscow to revise its nuclear doctrine because of the West’s escalation of the war in Ukraine.”

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Mr Putin will meet the most powerful officials in his administration to discuss the war strategy going forward. “There will be a speech by the President,” Mr Peskov said, adding that “The rest, for obvious reasons, will be marked ‘top secret’.”

Speaking about the reports that the United States and United Kingdom are about to give clearance to Ukraine for Kyiv to launch cruise missiles on Russian soil, President Putin said this month that, “The West would be directly fighting with Russia if it gave such permission to Ukraine (to bomb Russia)” adding that Moscow would be forced to make “appropriate decisions” in such a scenario.

RUSSIA’S NUCLEAR DOCTRINE & TREATY WITH US

Russia is the world’s largest nuclear power. Together, Russia and the United States control 88% of the world’s nuclear weapons.

Russia’s current nuclear doctrine was set in place by Vladimir Putin four years ago, before the war with Ukraine broke out. According to the current doctrine, Russia may use nuclear weapons in the scenario where it comes under a nuclear attack or if a conventional attack threatens the existence of the state.

President Putin, who is the primary decision maker on Russia’s massive nuclear arsenal, is now planning how to respond if the United States and its European allies allow Ukraine to use Western-supplied missiles to strike deep inside Russia.

The United States and Russia have a nuclear treaty called the US-Russia New START Treaty, which entered into force on February 5, 2011.

Under the treaty, the United States and the Russian Federation had seven years to meet the treaty’s central limits on strategic offensive arms (by February 5, 2018) and are then obligated to maintain those limits for as long as the treaty remains in force.

According to the US State Department, this treaty enhances US national security by placing verifiable limits on all Russian deployed intercontinental-range nuclear weapons. The United States and the Russian Federation have agreed to extend the treaty through February 4, 2026.

According to a Reuters report, the Kremlin said that any discussions about a replacement to the US-Russia New START Treaty, which expires in 2026, would need to take into account European nuclear potential – shorthand for the arsenals of Britain and France.

“We have not yet received a response from the Americans to this, but of course an agreement is needed and negotiations should begin as soon as possible,” Peskov said when asked about a possible replacement for the New START Treaty.

THE STORM SHADOW MISSILE

Ukraine already has the UK-supplied Storm Shadow missile, but uses it only within its territory to combat Russian forces.

So far, there are restriction on Ukraine on the use of advanced western weaponry on targets within the Russian territory, but this is likely to change with clearances reportedly being issued by the UK, with US backing it.

The Storm Shadow is a low-observable, long-range air-launched cruise missile. It is jointly developed by the United Kingdom and France and has a range of around 500 km. It has already been integrated into Ukrainian fighter aircraft, including the Russia-built Su-24 bombers – a legacy of the past, from when Ukraine was part of the erstwhile Soviet Union.

The Storm Shadow missile has a range of around 500 km and can target territories deep inside Russia. (Photo Credit: Posted on X by @TopLeadEU)

Developed in 1994 and manufactured by Matra and British Aerospace, the Storm Shadow missile is now made by MBDA Systems. ‘Storm Shadow’ is the weapon’s British name, while in France it is called the SCALP-EG.

RUSSIAN NUCLEAR WEAPONS STOCKPILE

Should Ukraine use cruise missiles to attack Russian territory, a Russian response to this could be massive. The international worry is that Moscow may seriously consider the use of nuclear weapons in such a scenario.

According to Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation – a nonpartisan non-profit organisation on nuclear weapons disarmament – Russia maintains a stockpile of an estimated 6,372 nuclear warheads – the world’s largest.

Of these, 1,572 of which are deployed on strategic land-based ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and heavy bombers. Approximately 870 more strategic warheads and 1,870 non-strategic warheads are in reserve with an additional estimated 2,060 warheads awaiting dismantlement.
 

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the country would be ready to use nuclear weapons if its sovereignty was threatened. File
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Russia remains in a state of combat readiness and is fully ready for a nuclear war, but not “everything is rushing to it” at present, President Vladimir Putin said in remarks published on March 13.

In an interview with state media, Mr. Putin, who launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine and is nearly certain to win the March 15 to 17 presidential election, said Russia would be ready to use nuclear weapons if its sovereignty was threatened. “From a military-technical point of view, we are, of course, ready,” Mr. Putin told Rossiya-1 television and news agency RIA in response to a question on whether the country was ready for a nuclear war.

He said the United States understands that if it deploys American troops on Russian territory — or to Ukraine — Russia would treat the move as an intervention. “(In the United States) there are enough specialists in the field of Russian-American relations and in the field of strategic restraint,” Mr. Putin said, adding, “Therefore, I don’t think that here everything is rushing to it (nuclear confrontation), but we are ready for this.”

Kremlin’s nuclear doctrine

Mr. Putin reiterated that the use of nuclear weapons was spelt out in the Kremlin’s nuclear doctrine, its policy setting out the circumstances in which Russia might use its weapons. “Weapons exist in order to use them,” Putin said. “We have our own principles.”

If the United States conducted nuclear tests, Russia might do the same, he added in the wide-ranging interview. “It’s not necessary … we still need to think about it, but I don’t rule out that we can do the same.”

However, Mr. Putin said Russia had never faced a need to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, where the conflict has raged since February 2022. “Why do we need to use weapons of mass destruction? There has never been such a need.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin. File.
| Photo Credit: AP

Russian President Vladimir Putin declared on February 20 that Moscow has no intention of deploying nuclear weapons in space, claiming that the country has only developed space capabilities similar to those of the U.S.

Mr. Putin’s statement follows the White House confirmation last week that Russia has obtained a “troubling” anti-satellite weapon capability, although such a weapon is not operational yet. White House national security spokesman John Kirby said it would violate the international Outer Space Treaty, but declined to comment on whether the weapon is nuclear-capable.

The treaty signed by more than 130 countries, including Russia, prohibits the deployment of “nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction” in orbit or the stationing of “weapons in outer space in any other manner.” The White House said it would look to engage the Russians directly on the concerns.

“Our position is quite clear and transparent: we have always been and remain categorically opposed to the deployment of nuclear weapons in space,” Putin said. “Just the opposite, we are urging everyone to adhere to all the agreements that exist in this sphere.”

Speaking during a meeting with his defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, Mr. Putin noted that Russia has only developed space capabilities that “other nations, including the U.S. have.”

“And they know it,” he added.

“We haven’t deployed any nuclear weapons in space or any elements of them to use against satellites or to create fields where satellites can’t work efficiently,” Mr. Shoigu said.

Mr. Shoigu alleged that the White House could have made the allegations of a new Russian space capability in order to force Congress to support aid for Ukraine and also encourage Moscow to reenter nuclear arms control talks that Russia has suspended amid the tensions with the U.S. over Ukraine.

Mr. Putin didn’t rule out possible future contacts with the U.S., but reaffirmed his view that Washington’s push for Russia’s defeat in Ukraine makes them impossible for now.

“The U.S. and the West, for one thing, are calling for Russia’s strategic defeat, while, on the other hand, they would like to have a dialogue on strategic stability, pretending that those things aren’t connected,” he said. “It won’t work.”