The launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), with a range of thousands of kilometres, came days after Ukraine fired US and British missiles at targets deep inside Russian territory earlier this week.
Russia today fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) during an attack on Ukraine, marking the first use of a strategic, nuclear-capable weapon in the ongoing conflict.
Russia fired its RS-26 Rubezh missile, with a range of 5,800 kilometres, deep inside Ukrainian territory. However, the missile was not carrying any nuclear warhead, a news agency reported.
According to TASS agency the US missile defense base in Poland has long been considered a priority target for potential neutralization by the Russian Armed Forces, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated during a briefing.
“Given the level of threats posed by such Western military facilities, the missile defense base in Poland has long been included among the priority targets for potential neutralization. If necessary, this can be achieved using a wide range of advanced weaponry,” the diplomat said.
Zakharova stated that the US-NATO construction project, ongoing for nearly a decade with complete disregard to Russian security concerns, has consistently been a focus of Russia’s attention. She emphasized that Russia has spent these years preparing countermeasures in response.
Zakharova described the establishment of such a base as yet another blatantly provocative move, calling it part of “a series of deeply destabilizing actions by the Americans and their North Atlantic allies in the strategic sphere.”
“This move aligns with the longstanding and destructive practice of advancing NATO’s military infrastructure closer to Russia’s borders,” the spokeswoman stated. “Such actions undermine strategic stability. Coupled with other harmful military-political and military-technical measures aimed at projecting US power thousands of kilometers from its own territory to exert pressure on Russia and other nuclear powers, this inevitably heightens strategic risks and, consequently, raises the overall level of nuclear danger,” Zakharova added.