Conflicts

The Kremlin said the attack with a new hypersonic ballistic missile on Ukraine was intended to warn the West that Moscow would respond to moves by the United States and Britain to allow Kiev to attack Russia with its missiles.

Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, spoke a day after President Vladimir Putin said Moscow had fired the new Oreshnik missile at a Ukrainian military facility.

Peskov said Russia was not required to warn the United States about the attack, but had nonetheless informed it 30 minutes before the launch.

Putin said "there is no way to counter these weapons". He said the missiles attack targets at speeds of 2.5 to 3 kilometers per second.

"Modern air defense systems available in the world and missile defense systems created by the Americans in Europe do not intercept these missiles. It's impossible."

For its part, NATO said on Friday that Russia's launch of its first experimental intermediate-range ballistic missile against Ukraine will not deter allies from continuing to support Kiev.

"The deployment of this capability will not change the course of the conflict and will not deter NATO allies from supporting Ukraine," NATO spokeswoman Farah Dakhlallah said.

The spokeswoman noted that Russia launched an experimental intermediate-range ballistic missile against Ukraine on Thursday, which she said was "another example of Russia's attacks on Ukrainian cities".

(MH with AmBar/Source: Agency: Photo: DPA/Globallookpress.com/Russian Defence)