Nato and Ukraine plan to hold an emergency meeting next week after Russian president Vladimir Putin threatened to strike the West in a coded message.
Mr Putin said Russia’s use of its experimental “Oreshnik” missile, targeting Ukraine’s Dnipro city, was a direct response to Ukrainian forces striking Russia with US and British missiles.
“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,” the Russian president said on Friday.
He claimed the new missile could be fitted with several conventional warheads and could be as devastating as strategic nuclear weapons.
Mr Putin vowed to launch more strikes with the intermediate-range ballistic missile, adding that Russia had a stockpile “ready for use”.
After the Russian attack on Dnipro, Ukraine has begun seeking advanced air defence systems from its partners, and Nato is planning to hold emergency talks on Tuesday, according to the Associated Press.
Meanwhile, Poland’s prime minister warned of a real risk of a global conflict breaking out.
Key Points
- Nato and Kyiv to meet next week amid missile attack
- Threat of global conflict is real, Polish PM warns
- Putin vows to launch more hypersonic ballistic missile strikes
- Putin hints at striking West in latest message
Putin hints at striking West in latest message
04:57
Vishwam Sankaran
Russian president Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia’s use of its new “Oreshnik” missile was a direct response to strikes on Russia by Ukraine using US and UK-made weapons.
In his televised meeting with Russian defence officials, Mr Putin hinted at escalating conflict warning the West to back off in a coded message.
“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,” the Russian president said.
“If anyone else doubts this, then they are wrong - there will always be a response,” he said.
Experts say the new hypersonic missile used by Russia may have the potential to be equipped with nuclear warheads and could reach as far as Europe or the west coast of the US.
“Putin is saying to the West stop - halt - back off,” former Kremlin adviser Sergei Markov told Reuters.
Nato, Ukraine to hold emergency meeting after Russia's 'experimental' missile strike
03:09
Vishwam Sankaran
Nato and Ukraine have scheduled an emergency meeting next week after Russia hit the Ukrainian city of Dnipro with an experimental hypersonic ballistic missile.
Russian president Vladimir Putin said on Friday that the missile known as “Oreshnik”, or Hazel Tree, that targeted Ukraine was a direct response to strikes on Russia by Ukrainian forces using US and British missiles.
He warned that the Ukraine war was escalating towards a “global conflict” after the US and the UK allowed Ukraine to hit Russia with their weapons.
Mr Putin said Russia would keep testing its experimental weapon in combat and had a stock of the missile that was “ready for use”.
Ukraine said in its assessment of the Russian missile that it reached a top speed of over 13,000 kph (8,000 mph), taking about 15 minutes to reach its target from launch.
Following Mr Putin’s statements, Nato and Ukraine will hold emergency talks on Tuesday.
Russia’s claim of emissions in annexed Ukraine regions draws protests at COP29
07:30
Andy Gregory
Russia has included occupied Ukrainian territories in its recent greenhouse gas inventory report to the United Nations, sparking fury among Ukrainian officials and activists at the Cop29 climate summit.
“We see that Russia is using international platforms to legalise their actions, to legalise their occupation of our territory,” Ukraine’s deputy environment minister Olga Yukhymchuk told Reuters, adding that Kyiv is in touch with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to resolve the dispute.
In its 2022 annual report of greenhouse gas emissions, Russia claimed it could only provide data for 85 out of 89 of its territories “due to the absence of baseline data on land use for the territories of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Luhansk People’s Republic, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, annexed in September 2022”.
Russia had previously included emissions from Ukraine’s Crimea region, annexed in 2014, in its recent reporting submissions to the UNFCCC.
Ukrainian environment minister Svitlana Grynchuk raised the issue in a speech to delegates at the Cop29 summit earlier this week, saying Russia’s reporting on Ukraine territories undermines the integrity of global climate efforts.
Warning of the risk of double-counting emissions in territories that together exceed the size of Portugal and Azerbaijan, Ms Grynchuk said: “It will bring us to a point that we do not achieve any of our goals if we don’t have proper reporting under the Paris Agreement.”
Breakthrough UN treaty on crimes against humanity moves forward – despite Russian stalling
07:23
Andy Gregory
A key UN General Assembly committee has adopted a resolution paving the way for negotiations on the first-ever treaty on preventing and punishing crimes against humanity – after Russia dropped amendments that would have derailed the effort.
The resolution – which marks the first ever global treaty on punishing crimes against humanity – was approved by consensus by the assembly’s legal committee, which includes all 193-member UN nations, after tense last-minute negotiations between its supporters and Russia that dragged through the day.
There was loud applause when the chairman of the committee gaveled the resolution’s approval. It is nearly certain to be adopted when the General Assembly puts it to a final vote on 4 December.
“Today’s agreement to start up negotiations on a much-needed international treaty is an historic achievement that was a long time coming,” Richard Dicker, Human Rights Watch’s senior legal adviser for advocacy, told The Associated Press.
“It sends a crucial message that impunity for the kinds of crimes inflicted on civilians in Ethiopia, Sudan, Ukraine, southern Israel, Gaza and Myanmar will not go unheeded,” he said.
Russia’s deputy UN ambassador Maria Zabolotskaya said Russia withdrew the amendments “in a spirit of compromise.” But she said Russia “dissociates itself from consensus.”
Russia is secretly developing a petrifying new weapon
07:00
Alexander Butler
North Korea sent more conventional weapons to Russia
06:30
Alexander Butler
Putin orders mass production of new ballistic missile
06:21
Vishwam Sankaran
Russian president Vladimir Putin said Russia will begin mass producing its new “Oreshnik” hypersonic ballistic missile that it fired at Ukraine on Thursday.
“There is no countermeasure to such a missile, no means of intercepting it, in the world today. And I will emphasise once again that we will continue testing this newest system,” Mr Putin said in a televised meeting on Friday.
Experts say Oreshnik may be capable of flying at nearly 10 times the speed of sound and could strike targets up to 5,500km (3,400 miles) away.
Kremlin said it used the new missile in Ukraine in response to “Western escalation”.
“It is necessary to establish serial production,” the Russian president said.
Comment: It’s not yet World War Three – but ‘World War Z’ has begun
06:00
Alexander Butler
Comment: Nobody can stop the juggernaut of war – not even Putin
05:30
Alexander Butler
What North Korea allegedly got in exchange for sending troops to Russia
05:27
Vishwam Sankaran
Russia has reportedly provided air defense missile systems to North Korea in exchange for the over 10,000 troops it sent Kremlin to fight the war in Ukraine.
The missiles, seemingly anti-aircraft weapons, and other equipment were provided to help Pyongyang reinforce its air defense network, a top South Korean official said on Friday, according to the Associated Press.
However, it remains unclear what specific missiles Russia gave North Korea.
Experts suspect the deal was likely made by North Korea to bolster its air defence as the South flew drones over Pyongyang last month, scattering propaganda leaflets.
What missile did Russia use?
05:00
Alexander Butler
Ukraine’s air force initially said the missile was an intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) - the kind that Russia could hit the United States with.
But the US military later said the weapon was an intermediate-range missile (IRBM) based on the design of Russia’s longer-range RS-26 ICBM missile
The Pentagon said it was fired with a conventional warhead but Moscow could modify it if it wanted, with Russia only possessing a handful of them.
“It could be refitted to certainly carry different types of conventional or nuclear warheads,” Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said.
What we know so far about Russia's 'experimental' missile
04:55
Vishwam Sankaran
Russia used its new missile known as “Oreshnik”, or Hazel Tree, for the first time to target Ukraine’s Dnipro city on Thursday.
Russian president Vladimir Putin said the missile was an intermediate-range weapon fired in response to Ukrainian forces striking Russia with US and British missiles.
Such weapons usually have a range of 3,000-5,500 km (1,860-3,415 miles), which means they could likely be used to launch strikes from Russia to anywhere in Europe or the western US.
Ukraine said in a new assessment that the missile reached top speeds of over 13,000 kph (8,000 mph), taking just about 15 minutes to reach its target.
Some weapons experts say the missile appears to be capable of carrying multiple warheads with the potential to strike different targets simultaneously.
These kinds of features are usually associated with longer-range intercontinental ballistic missiles designed to carry nuclear warheads.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address that the missile’s use signified an escalation of the war, adding that his officials are holding meetings with the country’s partners to procure new air defence systems.
But not everyone is convinced about the weapon’s destructiveness.
Fabian Hoffman, a defence expert at the University of Oslo, told the Kyiv Independent that the Oreshnik missiles appear to be a redesigned version of an already existing weapon RS-26 Rubezh.
“I’d be extremely shocked if this missile system had more than 10 per cent new parts,” Mr Hoffman said.
“I think basically they just took apart the RS-26 or just cannibalized it, and then put together this new missile with a couple of upgrades, and a new paint job,” he said.
Russia says Ukraine returned 46 of its civilians originally from Kursk
04:30
Alexander Butler
The governor of Russia’s Kursk border region said on Friday that 46 Russian civilian residents of Kursk held by Ukraine had been returned to Russia following negotiations with Kyiv.
Alexei Smirnov said the civilians, including 12 children, had been moved by Ukrainian troops into Ukraine after Kyiv staged a cross-border incursion into the western Russian region of Kursk in August.
Ukraine continues to control part of the region despite Russian attempts to dislodge Kyiv’s forces.
Zelensky hits out at ‘insane neighbour’ Russia
04:00
Alexander Butler
Top US official warns of growing Russia-China ties
03:49
Vishwam Sankaran
US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell has warned that the growing Russia-China partnership could have a deep impact on the Ukraine war.
Mr Campbell said Russian president Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping have “chosen each other” with China supporting Russia’s defence industry.
He said the strategic partnership is “animating itself in a number of ways that are going to be deeply concerning”.
“China has believed that the United States is in hurtling decline, and they are determined to try to take steps to replace many elements of American power,” the envoy said, according to SCMP.
Ukraine seeks advanced air defence systems after Russian 'experimental' missile attacks
03:37
Vishwam Sankaran
Ukraine has begun talks with its partners about securing advanced air defense systems after Russia hit the Ukrainian city of Dnipro with an experimental missile.
Experts have determined that the new missile can carry multiple warheads with the potential to strike different targets simultaneously, reaching a top speed of over 13,000 kph, or 8,000 mph.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has reportedly directed Defense Minister Rustem Umerov to engage with the country’s partners on acquiring advanced air defense systems.
“The Minister of Defense of Ukraine is already holding meetings with our partners regarding new air defense systems – precisely such systems that are capable of protecting lives from new risks,” Mr Zelensky said in a statement shared on Telegram.
Putin sends warning to ‘ruling elites’ after Russia tests new missile in Ukraine strike
03:30
Alexander Butler
'Will keep testing new missiles,' Putin warns
03:21
Vishwam Sankaran
Russian president Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia would continue testing its experimental hypersonic “Oreshnik” missile in combat.
He warned that Russia had a “ready for use” stock of the missile, a day after it was used to target Ukraine for the first time.
Weapons experts say the missile could carry multiple warheads and is capable of striking different targets simultaneously - a feature usually associated with longer-range intercontinental ballistic missiles designed to carry nuclear warheads.
“We will continue these tests, including in combat conditions, depending on the situation and the nature of the security threats that are created for Russia,” Mr Putin told defence officials in a televised meeting.
What is an intercontinental ballistic missile and how many does Russia have?
03:00
Alexander Butler
Watch: Putin says Russia tested new intermediate range missile in strike on Ukraine
02:30
Alexander Butler
Watch: Footage appears to show Russia's ICBM launch hitting Ukraine
02:00
Alexander Butler
Watch: British Army fire artillery gun close to Russia border
01:30
Alexander Butler
Norwegian student arrested on suspicion of spying for Russia
01:00
Alexander Butler
A Norwegian student in his 20s has been arrested on suspicion of spying for Russia and Iran while working as a guard at the US Embassy in Oslo, authorities in Norway say.
The man, who has not been identified, was ordered to be held in custody for four weeks.
He runs a security company jointly with a dual national of Norway and an unspecified eastern European country, Norwegian public broadcaster NRK reported.
UK won't be put off supporting Ukraine, says minister
00:30
Alexander Butler
The UK will not be put off supporting Ukraine by the “irresponsible rhetoric” of Vladimir Putin, a defence minister has said.
Maria Eagle’s comments came after Sir Keir Starmer said the UK is “not at war” in relation to the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
“We’ve heard this kind of irresponsible rhetoric from Putin before. He’s trying to stop nations supporting Ukraine, whilst he doesn’t seem to mind that much about the support he’s getting from North Korea and other nations.
“We can’t allow ourselves to be put off from supporting Ukraine, and we won’t be.”
Ukraine says new Russian missile reached speed of over 13,000 kph
00:01
Alexander Butler
The Russian missile that struck the Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Thursday reached a top speed of more than 13,000 kph (8,000 mph) and took about 15 minutes to reach its target from its launch, Ukraine said on Friday in its first public assessment of the new weapon.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow struck a Ukrainian military facility with a new intermediate-range, hypersonic ballistic missile known as “Oreshnik” as a warning to the West against supporting Ukraine’s war effort.
The attack took place with fighting in the war nearing the three-year mark and Ukraine firing longer-range missiles supplied by its Western allies at targets inside Russia.
“The flight time of this Russian missile from the moment of its launch in the Astrakhan region to its impact in the city of Dnipro was 15 minutes,” the military’s Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR) said in a statement.
What do we know about Putin’s ‘experimental’ ballistic missile?
Friday 22 November 2024 23:30
Alexander Butler
Threat of global conflict is real, Polish PM says
Friday 22 November 2024 23:00
Alexander Butler
There is a real risk of a global conflict breaking out over the Ukraine war, Polish prime minister Donald Tusk warned.
Mr Tusk said the conflict was taking on “dramatic proportions” with the threat of global conflict “serious and real”.
It comes after Russia fired a hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile at a the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Thursday.
“The war in the east is entering a decisive phase, we feel that the unknown is approaching,” Tusk told a teachers conference.
“The conflict is taking on dramatic proportions. The last few dozen hours have shown that the threat is serious and real when it comes to global conflict.”
On Thursday, Russian president Vladimir Putin said the strike was a response to the US and UK allowing Kyiv to strike Russian territory with advanced Western weapons.
Pictured: Russian military volunteers patrol Kursk
Friday 22 November 2024 22:30
Alexander Butler
Putin sends a missile message to the West: 'Back off'
Friday 22 November 2024 22:00
Alexander Butler
“Putin is saying to the West stop - halt - back off,” Sergei Markov, a former Kremlin adviser, said.
“The signal Putin is sending to the world is that we consider these strikes as the direct entry of the United States and Britain into a war against Russia,” he said.
“But we are not responding with all our might right now because these strikes against Russia will not change the outcome of the war.”
Comment: It’s not yet World War Three – but ‘World War Z’ has begun
Friday 22 November 2024 21:30
Alexander Butler
Comment: Nobody can stop the juggernaut of war – not even Putin
Friday 22 November 2024 21:00
Alexander Butler
Ukraine stepping up air defence development, says Zelensky
Friday 22 November 2024 20:45
Jane Dalton
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky says his country is working on developing new types of air defence to counter “new risks” following Russia’s deployment of a new medium-range missile.
Mr Zelensky, in his nightly video address, said testing a new weapon for purposes of terror in another country was an international crime and issued a new call for a worldwide “serious response” to keep Russia from expanding the war.
“On my behalf, the Minister of Defence of Ukraine is already holding meetings with our partners regarding new air defence systems capable of protecting lives from new risks,” he said.
“When someone starts using other countries not only for terror, but also for testing their new missiles through acts of terror, then this is clearly an international crime.”
Today, more details have been revealed about the new missile that Russia used to strike Dnipro. These details will be shared with international journalists and media because the world must know the truth. It must understand that the only party that does not want peace is Russia.… pic.twitter.com/dmuYRF6G2F
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) November 22, 2024
'Axis of China, Russia and North Korea greatest threat since Second World War’
Friday 22 November 2024 20:30
Jane Dalton
The emerging axis of China, Russia and North Korea has created “the most serious and dangerous challenge” for the West since the Second World War, according to a former top US military chief.
General Jack Keane, a retired four-star general and former vice-chief of the US Army, told The Times: “China, Russia and North Korea are working effectively together. What has happened is that they have perceived us, the US, to be weak and that we have lost the political will to confront them.”
Gen Keane, one of the most influential military figures in Washington and a Donald Trump ally, said: “At the moment there are 10,000 North Korean troops who have joined the Russians.
“But do we have the beginnings of a pipeline of North Korean troops coming to support Russia, another country fighting alongside Russia to try and overthrow Ukraine? This is the biggest escalation of the war.”
He added: “The pressure on [President] Zelensky is enormous. This is not about giving up the 18 per cent of territory the Russians have seized, it’s about human lives. The Ukrainians living in these areas will be subjugated under Russian domination. This is what Zelensky cannot allow to happen. He needs leverage so that he gives up less territory. That’s why we have to give him everything he needs.”
What is the Storm Shadow cruise missile? Ukraine hits Russia with British weapon for first time
Friday 22 November 2024 20:30
Alexander Butler
Watch: Footage appears to show Russia's ICBM launch hitting Ukraine
Friday 22 November 2024 20:00
Alexander Butler
Putin vows more ballistic missile strikes
Friday 22 November 2024 19:41
Jane Dalton
Vladimir Putin has vowed to launch more strikes using an experimental intermediate-range ballistic missile.
The Russian president disputed US claims that his country possessed only a few of the high-speed ballistic missiles, saying that the military had enough to continue to test them in “combat conditions”.
None the less, he said Moscow would ramp up production of the new “unstoppable” hypersonic ballistic missile it fired at Ukraine on Thursday.
He told a defence conference on Friday tests of the missile system had been passed, adding: “As has been said already, we’ll be continuing these tests, including in combat conditions, depending on the situation and nature of threats being posed to Russia’s security, especially considering that we have enough of such items, such systems ready for use in stock.”
Elite’ Russian units becoming ‘obsolete’ in Ukraine war
Friday 22 November 2024 19:30
Alexander Butler
Russian units fighting in Ukraine which were previously considered “elite” are now becoming “increasingly obsolete” as a result of Russia’s strategy of throwing waves of troops into battle that has turned the frontline into a “meat grinder”, a leading war monitor has said.
Army formations which once carried out specialised tactical tasks in their assault on Ukrainians are now “understrength”, and reliant on infantry-led assaults which fail to deploy any “unique tactics”, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said.
Once considered “elite”, the units are “now essentially functioning as understrength motorised rifle units, relying on infantry-led frontal assaults to make tactical gains as opposed to employing any sort of doctrinally unique tactics,” the US-based think tank said in an update on Thursday.
UK Foreign Secretary vows to ‘do everything that is necessary’ to help Ukraine
Friday 22 November 2024 19:00
Alexander Butler
The Foreign Secretary has vowed to continue to “do everything that is necessary” to help Ukraine combat Russia after Vladimir Putin threatened strikes on the UK.
The Russian president used a new ballistic missile against Ukraine on Thursday, with Mr Putin claiming the use of the weapon was in response to the UK and US allowing missiles they have supplied to Ukraine to be used to strike targets in Russia.
“We consider ourselves entitled to use our weapons against military facilities of those countries that allow their weapons to be used against our facilities,” he said.
Read the full report here:
Nato and Kyiv to meet next week
Friday 22 November 2024 18:45
Alexander Butler
Nato and Ukraine will meet in Brussels, Belgium, next week in response to Moscow’s use of the Oreshnik missile on Dnipro, central Ukraine.
The meeting on Tuesday of the Nato-Ukraine council will happen on ambassadorial level. It was called by Kyiv after the strike on the city of Dnipro.
British man admits arson on Ukraine-linked London property
Friday 22 November 2024 18:30
Alexander Butler
A British man admitted on Friday that he carried out an arson attack on a London commercial property linked to Ukraine, and that he had accepted pay from a foreign intelligence agency, in a case prosecutors have linked to Russia.
Jake Reeves, 22, pleaded guilty at London’s Woolwich crown court to charges of aggravated arson on the premises belonging to a “Mr X” on an industrial estate in east London in March.
He also admitted a charge under the UK’s new National Security Act (NSA) of obtaining a material benefit from a foreign intelligence service.
Two killed in Russian drone attack on Sumy
Friday 22 November 2024 18:15
Alexander Butler
A Russian drone attack on the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy killed two people and injured 12 on Friday morning, regional authorities said.
Twelve apartment buildings, five private residences, a store and three cars were damaged after three drones attacked the city around 5am (0300 GMT), the national police said.
Volodymyr Artiukh, Sumy regional governor, said Russian forces had equipped drones with shrapnel for the attack on a densely populated area of the city.
“This weapon is used exclusively to kill people,” Artiukh said, pointing to scars on a damaged building. “Not for a facility, but in order to destroy more people.”
Risk of nuclear war close, North Korea warns
Friday 22 November 2024 18:00
Alexander Butler
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has said the Korean Peninsula has never been so close to a nuclear war, after what he described as “aggressive” moves from the US in particular.
“Never before have the warring parties on the Korean Peninsula faced such a dangerous and acute confrontation that it could escalate into the most destructive thermonuclear war,” Kim said.
“We have already gone as far as we can on negotiating with the United States, but what we became certain of from the result is not the superpower’s willingness to coexist, but its thorough stance of power and aggressive and hostile policy toward us that can never change.”