Putin says hopes West 'heard' warning over long-range strikes

MOSCOW

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday he hoped the West "heard" his warning about the danger of a direct war with NATO if it allowed Ukraine to use long-range weapons against Russia.

Putin made the initial threat in September after Britain and the United States mulled letting Kiev use long-range arms against Russian targets, warning this would put NATO "at war" with Moscow.

"They didn't tell me anything about it, but I hope they heard," Putin said in remarks to a state TV reporter when asked if the West had listened to his warning.

"Ukrainian troops cannot use these weapons on their own. Only specialists from NATO countries can do it, because they need space intelligence, which Ukraine naturally does not have," he said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had for months been pressing his Western allies for permission to use long-range missiles against targets deep inside Russian territory, arguing the move would "motivate" Moscow to seek peace.

Western officials signaled last month a decision on the matter was imminent, but British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and U.S. President Joe Biden later put it off amid Moscow's dire threats.

Biden played down Putin's warning, with U.S. officials saying the missiles would likely make a limited difference to Ukraine's campaign.

Meanwhile, a Russian drone strike killed a teenager in Kiev during a nighttime barrage on the Ukrainian capital that lasted for hours, officials said, while five people were reportedly killed in a missile attack on central Ukraine that also left at least 21 injured.

According to Kiev Mayor Vitalii Klitschko, the drone slammed into a 25-story apartment block Friday night in the city’s west, killing a 15-year-old girl and injuring five others. Ukraine’s Emergency Service said 100 people were evacuated following the strike, which damaged several apartments on the building’s upper floors.

Serhii Popko, who heads Kiev’s local military administration, said that Russian forces overnight pummeled the city for 7 1/2 hours. Air raid sirens wailed throughout the night, and Popko said that Ukrainian air defense shot down up to a dozen Russian drones.

Also late Friday, a Russian missile hit a residential area in the central city of Dnipro, killing a 14-year-old and four others, said regional Gov. Serhii Lysak, adding that at least 21 others were injured including an 8-year-old and teenagers.

The wife and teenage daughter of a local policeman were pulled dead from the rubble, police reported. The attack damaged over a dozen apartment buildings, private houses and a medical facility.