Mr. Putin announced using new generation ballistic missiles to attack Ukraine

Hours after Kyiv accused Russia of using an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) to attack Ukraine on November 21, Putin made a televised speech, saying that Moscow had used a hypersonic medium-range ballistic missile called Oreshnik, Reuters reported. The Russian president said that this new type of missile hit a Ukrainian military facility in the city of Dnipro and could continue to be used in the context of the escalating conflict in Ukraine.

Intermediate-range ballistic missiles have a maximum range of about 5,500 km, while Ukraine previously claimed that Russia had used an ICBM for the first time in a conflict, a weapon with a range of more than 10,000 km.

US officials said that Moscow had informed Washington before carrying out the missile attack, and the US also briefed Ukraine on the possibility of an attack.

TASS news agency reported that in his speech on the evening of November 21, President Putin said that Moscow would notify when using this type of weapon. "We will notify in advance for humanitarian reasons without any concerns about countermeasures of the opponent, who will also receive the notification. Why not? Because there are currently no countermeasures to this type of weapon," the Russian leader affirmed.

Mr Putin also criticised the West for escalating the conflict, noting that the US and UK had recently allowed Ukraine to use long-range weapons to attack Russian territory. "A regional conflict in Ukraine provoked by the West now has global elements," he said.

After Putin's speech, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on social network X that Russia's admission of using new weapons was another escalation. "The attack on November 21 is proof that Russia is not interested in peace . The world must react. At the moment, the lack of a strong response to Russia's actions sends a message that such behavior is acceptable," Zelensky wrote.