Two US officials confirmed to Fox News on Thursday that the Russian “experimental intermediate-range ballistic missile” (IRBM) launched in Ukraine was not hypersonic.
Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed the attack in an address to the nation on Thursday evening and said it was a joint attack by the United States and Britain on Ukraine’s use of Western-supplied long-range missiles to target Russia. is in direct response to approval.
Putin and US sources have since confirmed that the attack was not an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), but the Kremlin chief also claimed that the weapon used posed a significant challenge to the West.
Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh confirmed to reporters during a press briefing on Thursday that Russia had launched an IRBM based on one of Russia’s ICBM models. He sometimes referred to the IRBM as “experimental”, stating that it was the first time a missile had been used on the battlefield.
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The Yaris intercontinental ballistic missile has been test-fired from the Plesetsk launch pad in northwestern Russia. (Press service of the Russian Ministry of Defense via AP)
“It was a new type of lethal capability that was used on the battlefield, so it’s definitely a concern for us,” Singh said.
He also said the US was briefed before the launch through nuclear or threat reduction channels.
Still, Singh told reporters that the Defense Department had seen no change in Russia’s nuclear posture, nor had the United States made any of its own.
Putin, according to a translation, said the missile struck the target at Mach 10.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Yevgeny Baltsky, the Moscow-appointed head of Ukraine’s Russian-controlled region of Zaporozhye, during a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow. (Vyacheslav Prokofiev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool photo by AP)
“That’s 2.5 miles per second,” Putin said. “The world’s current air defense system and the missile defense systems developed by the Americans in Europe cannot stop such missiles.”
Despite Putin’s claim, two U.S. defense officials told Fox News that the missile was not hypersonic, which according to NASA, is faster than 3,000 miles per hour and Mach 5.
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The only escalation in the war between Russia and Ukraine is that the former invaded a sovereign border country and turned to North Korea to bring about 11,000 troops to fight against Ukraine, Singh told reporters.
After President Biden this week authorized Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) against Russian territory, Kiev immediately opened a military arsenal in the Bryansk region of Russia. launched attacks against, which is more than 70 miles away. Ukraine border.
Ukrainian soldiers are training in the Zaporizhzhya region. (Andriy Andreyenko/Ukraine’s 65th Mechanized Brigade via AP)
While Ukrainian troops have officially fired the latest missiles, the weapons system still relies on US satellites to hit their targets, an issue Putin touched on in his unannounced speech on Thursday.
“We are testing the Orshank missile system under combat conditions in response to aggressive actions by NATO countries against Russia. We are considering further deployment of medium-range and short-range missiles by the United States and its satellite operations. will decide.” he said.
Putin claimed that Russia would warn Ukrainian citizens as it did Thursday’s attack, although it was unclear if it had issued any warning to Ukrainians living in the Dnipro.
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The Kremlin chief said the “defense industry” was targeted, although images released by Ukraine’s defense ministry showed civilian infrastructure trapped in the field.
Caitlin McFall of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
