NATO and Ukraine will hold urgent talks on Tuesday after Russia escalated its nearly 33-month war by striking a central city with a hypersonic ballistic missile.
The conflict is “entering a decisive phase,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Friday, adding that it is “taking on highly dramatic dimensions.”
Ukraine’s parliament canceled a session after heightened security measures followed Russia’s Thursday missile attack on a military facility in Dnipro.
In a warning to the West, President Vladimir Putin said in a national televised address that the strike with the medium-range Oreshnik missile was retaliation for Kyiv’s use of longer-range U.S. and U.K. missiles capable of striking deeper into Russian territory.
Speaking to military and arms industry officials on Friday, Putin announced the commencement of Oreshnik missile production.
Testing will continue, “including in combat, depending on the situation and the nature of security threats posed to Russia,” Putin said, noting that there is already “a reserve of such systems ready for deployment.”
