(Reuters) – Ukraine launched six U.S.-made long-range ATACMs missiles and four British-made Storm Shadow missiles at Russia’s southern Rostov region on Wednesday, the Russian defence ministry said on Thursday.
Russian forces downed all of the ATACMS and three out of four of the Storm Shadows, the ministry said, adding that Moscow would respond to the attacks.
Ukraine began firing the Western missiles into Russia last month after getting permission from the United States and Britain – something Moscow says makes those countries direct parties to the conflict.
Russia, in response, launched a new hypersonic missile called the Oreshnik at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Nov. 21.
President Vladimir Putin has said Russia is ready to fire more Oreshniks, including at “decision-making centres” in Kyiv, if Ukraine keeps using the U.S. and British weapons to hit Russia.
Putin has touted his new missile as an invincible weapon. On Thursday he floated the idea of a “high-tech duel” in which Russia would fire Oreshniks at Kyiv and Ukraine would try to shoot them down with Western-supplied anti-missile defences.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in response, told a press conference: “Do you think he is a sane person?”
(Reporting by Lucy Papachristou and Mark Trevelyan in London)
