Zelenskyy responds to Putin's statement about Oreshnik missile strike on Dnipro
Photo: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (president.gov.ua)
Today, Russia acknowledged that it has taken its second step towards escalating the war this year by deploying a new ballistic missile, according to a statement from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
"Putin struck our city of Dnipro — one of the largest cities in Ukraine. This is a clear and significant escalation in the scale and brutality of this war, a cynical violation by Russia of the UN Charter. And I emphasize: this is already Russia's second step toward escalation this year. The first step was involving North Korea in the war against Ukraine — with a contingent of at least 11,000 soldiers," said the president.
He emphasized that Russian President Vladimir Putin made both of these moves, ignoring everyone in the world who is calling for the war not to be expanded.
"He doesn’t care about what China, Brazil, European countries, America, or any other countries are calling for. Putin is the only one who started this war — an entirely unprovoked war — and who is doing everything to ensure this war continues for over a thousand days," the head of state concluded.
The president stressed that today’s ballistic missile strike on Ukraine is further proof that Russia clearly does not want peace.
"And Putin lies when he says that Ukraine’s use of long-range weapons was some new step on our part. We’ve used this weapon before. And we have every right to do so under international law; our right to self-defense is the same as that of any other nation," he said.
He also noted that when Russian missiles strike Ukrainian cities, when Iranian Shaheds attack Ukraine every night, when a North Korean contingent is stationed at Ukraine’s border, Putin is not only making the war longer — he is "spitting in the face" of those in the world who genuinely want peace to be restored.
Russia strikes Ukraine with a new missile
Today, Russia launched a strike on Dnipro. Initially, the Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russia used an intercontinental ballistic missile.
However, later Russian President Vladimir Putin himself stated that Russia hit the Dnipropetrovsk region with the medium-range missile system Oreshnik.
However, according to Defense Express, the Russian army may have actually used the intercontinental ballistic missile Rubezh to strike Ukraine, and the myth about Oreshnik was invented by Moscow.
RBC-Ukraine also reported that, according to CNN, the United States had warned Ukraine in advance about the threat of a strike with an experimental Russian missile.
