Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed to launch more attacks using a medium-range experimental ballistic missile, as Ukraine condemned the testing of the missile with nuclear capabilities on its territory as a “international war crime.”
Speaking at a defense conference on Friday, Putin rejected U.S. claims that Russia only possessed a “handful” of high-speed ballistic missiles, stating that the military had enough to continue testing them in “combat conditions” and to start mass production, according to The Guardian, as reported by RKS.NEWS.
“The tests [of the missile system] have been successful, and I congratulate everyone for this,” Putin said, according to the Interfax news agency.
“As already mentioned, we will continue these tests, including in combat conditions, depending on the situation and the nature of the threats to Russia’s security, especially considering that we have enough of these items, such systems ready for action,” he added.
In the same conference, the commander of Russia’s Strategic Rocket Forces, Sergei Karakayev, said that the missiles could hit targets across Europe.
“Depending on the targets and range of this weapon, it can hit targets across the entire territory of Europe, which sets it apart from other types of long-range precision-guided weapons,” Karakayev said.
Russia launched the experimental missile, which U.S. officials described as a modified design based on the Russian RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile with a longer range, targeting a missile factory in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. Both Vladimir Putin and U.S. officials have said that the missile is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.
