UK and NATO to meet as Putin vows to fire more hypersonic missiles

NATO members including Britain are to hold crisis talks after Vladimir Putin pledged to fire more nuclear-capable missiles into Ukraine.

Meanwhile Russia’s top missile commander warned its latest ‘unstoppable’ weapon can strike targets throughout Europe.

Next week’s emergency meeting will discuss the terrifying threat posed by the hypersonic rockets and fears that Ukraine’s front line is on the brink of collapse.

Speaking last night, President Putin described Thursday’s ballistic strike as ‘successful’ and said he would launch more in ‘combat conditions’.

In a televised address, Putin boasted there was ‘no countermeasure’ to the Oreshnik missile due to its speed. It took just 15 minutes to travel from a launch site in northern Russia to its target in central Ukraine, at Mach 11, or more than 8,500mph.

The medium-range, or intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), struck an arms factory in Dnipro, causing damage.

Putin said: ‘I will add, there is no means of intercepting it, in the world today. And I will emphasise once again that we will continue testing this newest system.’

If Russia can mass produce the weapon, as Putin said it would do, it could force Ukraine to surrender – or draw NATO states deeper into the conflict.

Commander of the Russian Strategic Missiles Forces, Sergei Karakayev, said: ‘The Oreshnik missile system has characteristics that allow it to hit targets throughout Europe.

‘This hypersonic missile system can hit any target, from individual targets to area targets, as well as highly protected targets, with great effectiveness.’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country is working on air defence systems to counter the ‘new risks’.

Read More

Putin's new missile leaves the whole of Europe minutes from Armageddon

UK missile expert Justin Crump said the Oreshnik was likely to be ‘experimental’ at this stage and had been fired as a ‘demonstration’ of Russia’s capabilities.

Also yesterday, Ukraine’s UK envoy, Valery Zaluzhny, said a Third World War had begun, given Russia’s use of North Korean troops, Iranian drones and Chinese computer components.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer denied a Kremlin claim that the UK was already ‘at war’ with Russia due to its involvement in Ukraine’s use of Storm Shadows.

The British-supplied cruise missiles were fired into mainland Russia for the first time earlier this week. The rockets require direct UK and US involvement in mission planning.

Sir Keir said: ‘No, we’re not at war, but Ukraine certainly is, because Ukraine has been invaded by Russia and that war has been going on for just over 1,000 days. 

‘That’s 1,000 days of aggression from Russia and 1,000 days of sacrifice for Ukraine. That is why we’ve said consistently we stand by Ukraine. We cannot allow Putin to win this war.’ Concerns were intensifying last night that the Kremlin’s position in the conflict could soon become unassailable. This year it has seized six times as much territory in Ukraine as it did in 2023.

Consequently, Russia occupies more than 110,000 square kilometres of Ukraine while Ukraine only occupies 1,100 square kilometres of Russian territory.

However, this relatively small area of Kursk province could be a valuable bargaining chip.

Without it, Ukraine would have no leverage to persuade the Kremlin to withdraw from its sovereign territory – parts of which have been under Russian occupation since the invasion in 2022.

Dr Marina Miron, a defence researcher at King’s College London, suggested the Kremlin’s land grab had been caused by Ukraine diverting troops to southern Russia.

She said: ‘The Kursk incursion was a moment of tactical brilliance but it has been a strategic catastrophe for Ukraine.’