‘He is testing you’: Volodymyr Zelensky says world ‘should reply’ after Putin boasted about new missile and declared the UK is now ‘straight concerned’ in struggle

Vladimir Putin must feel the cost of his deranged ambitions, President Zelensky has said after Russia fired a new medium-range missile at the city of Dnipro. 

The Ukrainian leader warned that the Kremlin is ‘testing’ the West and called on the world to respond decisively to the dramatic escalation of the conflict. 

In a gloating TV address, Putin revealed Russian forces had fired the rocket as a test, triggering a number of explosions across Dnipro.  

He even warned the Kremlin could use the new ballistic missiles against countries that have permitted Ukraine’s use of western-made missiles on Russian soil.

In a response on X, Zelensky called on the world to respond decisively and pile pressure on Moscow. 

‘The world must respond. Right now, there is no strong reaction from the world. Putin is very sensitive to this. He is testing you, dear partners,’ he said. 

Zelensky added: ‘Putin must feel the cost of his deranged ambitions. Response is needed. Pressure is needed.’

His comments come after the Russian ambassador to the UK declared that Britain is now ‘directly involved’ in the Russia/Ukraine war after Kyiv‘s Storm Shadow attack.

The UN called the testing of the new Russian missile in Ukraine ‘worrying’ and Downing Street condemned Putin for further escalating the conflict.

It comes after Ukraine struck a military facility in Russia’s Kursk region on Wednesday, utilising British-made missiles.

In a rare move of making a statement himself, Putin said in an alarming TV address around 8pm Moscow time: ‘We consider ourselves entitled to use our weapons against the military facilities of those countries that allow their weapons to be used against our facilities.’

He said he wanted to give a message to those who ‘harbour delusions about delivering a strategic defeat to Russia’, as the 33-month-old war continues to escalate.

Putin claimed that today’s strike on Dnipro was in response to ‘aggressive’ actions by NATO and warned that ‘targets for further testing will be determined by us based on the security threats’.

Nine projectiles were launched at critical infrastructure in Dnipro between 5am and 7am local time, from the Astrakhan region of Russia, Ukraine’s air forces said.

The missile’s range far outstrips that of newly authorised US and British supplied weapons. The distance from Moscow to London is around 2,500km, suggesting the range of the new missile could threaten the UK. 

Attacking either the UK or US would be a major escalation and it could be the first time Russia has deliberately launched an attack on NATO soil since the war began. 

The Russian leader said: ‘In the event of further escalation of aggressive actions, we will respond equally decisively and in kind. 

‘I recommend that the ruling elites of those countries which are considering allegiance against Russia seriously consider this. Of course, if necessary, we will choose targets for destruction. There are currently no means to counter such weapons. It is impossible.’

He added: ‘In response to the use of American and British long-range weapons, on November 21 of this year, the Russian armed forces launched a combined strike on one of the facilities of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine.

‘From that moment, as we have repeatedly underscored, a regional conflict in Ukraine previously provoked by the West has acquired elements of a global character. 

‘In combat conditions, one of the newest Russian medium-range missile systems was tested, among other things. In this case, with a ballistic missile in a nuclear-free hypersonic equipment.’

He said of the new weapon: ‘Our engineers named it Oreshnik.’ This means hazel tree in Russian.

The Russian leader declared that they would issue advance warnings before strikes on other countries to allow civilians to evacuate to safety.

Sir Keir Starmer’s official spokesman said: ‘My understanding is that it is the first time that Russia has used a ballistic missile in Ukraine with a range of several thousand kilometres.’

No 10 said it was ‘an example of escalatory behaviour from Russia’.

But the Prime Minister’s spokesman added it ‘only serves to strengthen our resolve and to ensure that Ukraine has what it needs to act in self-defence against Russia’s reckless and illegal invasion’.  

The US was notified by Russia ‘briefly’ before today’s missile strike on Ukraine, an American official said today.

Ukraine’s foreign ministry urged the international community to react swiftly to the use of what it said was ‘the use by Russia of a new type of weaponry.’

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Russia likely possesses a handful of the ‘experimental’ intermediate-range ballistic missiles used in today’s strike.

Defence Secretary John Healey earlier revealed to a committee of MPs that the UK knew Russia had been ‘preparing for months’ to fire a new ballistic missile.

Mr Healey warned Ukraine faces a ‘serious moment’ in its defence against Putin’s invasion, but refused to confirm that Kyiv had been given permission to use Storm Shadow in Russia.

Downing Street and the Ministry of Defence have repeatedly declined to comment publicly on the use of Storm Shadow.

‘It risks both operational security and in the end the only one that benefits from such a public debate is President Putin,’ the Defence Secretary told MPs.

Battle lines in Ukraine are now ‘less stable than at any time since the early days of the full-scale Russian invasion’, Mr Healey said, citing British intelligence.

Speaking at the same time, Sir Keir told the House of Commons the UK ‘will not be deterred or distracted by reckless threats’ from Putin, who has lowered the threshold for using his nuclear arsenal.

Sir Keir also insisted that all the UK’s support for Kyiv was ‘in accordance with international law’ and ‘always for self-defence’.

Putin’s announcement today came hours after Ukraine claimed that Russia launched an intercontinental ballistic missile overnight at the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro.

But American officials said an initial US assessment indicated the strike was carried out with an intermediate-range ballistic missile.

Two people were wounded in the attack, and an industrial facility and a rehabilitation centre for people with disabilities were damaged, according to local officials.

Security cameras caught the moment several projectiles streaked through the night sky and triggered a series of violent explosions in the city of Dnipro where the plants of state-owned aerospace and defence manufacturer Yuzmash are located. 

‘Expert examinations are underway. It is obvious that Putin is using Ukraine as a testing ground,’ Zelensky said in a video posted on social media.

Footage of the strike was released as Russia also threatened to strike US air bases in Poland with ‘advanced weapons’ in an alarming statement.

Moscow said the opening of a new US ballistic missile defence base in Redzikowo near the Baltic coast will ‘increase the overall level of nuclear danger’, adding it could be considered a future target. 

‘(The base) has been added to the list of priority targets for potential destruction which, if necessary, can be executed with a wide range of advanced weapons,’ Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova concluded. 

Zakharova’s statement came minutes after Ukraine’s air force first reported the strike, claiming it was fired from a base in Russia‘s southern Astrakhan region on the Caspian Sea early.

In a bizarre twist, Zakharova’s press conference was interrupted by a phone call in which the speaker appeared to tell the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman about the  strike before instructing her not to comment on it. 

A man’s voice was faintly heard saying: ‘Masha, ballistic missile strikes on Yuzhmash. 

The Westerners are talking about it now. Don’t comment at all.’

The attack comes in a week when tensions have repeatedly soared, as the US eased restrictions on Ukraine’s use of American-made longer-range missiles inside Russia and Putin lowered the threshold for launching nuclear weapons.

The Ukrainian air force said in a statement that the attack on Dnipro was launched from Russia’s Astrakhan region, on the Caspian Sea.

‘Today, our crazy neighbour once again showed what he really is,’ Ukrainian President Zelensky said. ‘And how afraid he is.’

Earlier this week, the Biden administration authorized Ukraine to use US-supplied, longer-range missiles to strike deeper inside Russia – a move that drew an angry response from Moscow.

Days later, Ukraine fired several of the missiles into Russia, according to the Kremlin. 

The same day, Putin signed a new doctrine that allows for a potential nuclear response even to a conventional attack on Russia by any nation that is supported by a nuclear power.

The doctrine is formulated broadly to avoid a firm commitment to use nuclear weapons. In response, Western countries, including the US, said Russia has used irresponsible nuclear rhetoric and behaviour throughout the war to intimidate Ukraine and other nations.

They have also expressed dismay at the deployment of thousands of North Korean troops to Russia to fight against Ukraine.

Also on Thursday, Russia also struck Zelensky‘s home city of Kryvyi Rih, wounding 26 people, said the head of regional administration, Serhii Lysak. 

The missile strike caused damage to an administrative building, at least five multi-storey residential buildings, and civilian vehicles.

The Russian Defence Ministry said in a statement that its air defence systems shot down two British-made Storm Shadow missiles, six HIMARS rockets, and 67 drones.

The statement didn’t say when or where the Storm Shadows were shot down or what they were targeting. Russia earlier reported downing some of the missiles over the illegally annexed Crimean Peninsula.

Putin has also warned that the move would mean that Russia and NATO are at war.

Peter Ricketts, a former U.K. national security adviser who now sits in the House of Lords, said: ‘It is an important move and it pulls against, undermines the narrative that Putin had been trying to establish that it was fine for Russia to rain down Iranian drones and North Korean missiles on Ukraine but a reckless escalation for Ukraine to use Western-supplied weapons at legitimate targets in Russia.’