Russia says it 'derailed' Kiev's war plans for next year

MOSCOW

Russia said on Nov. 22 it had scuppered Kiev's military objectives for 2025 just after President Vladimir Putin issued a warning to the West by test-firing a new intermediate-range missile at Ukraine.

Putin announced the missile launch in a defiant address late on Nov. 21, saying the conflict in Ukraine had taken on a "global" nature, while hinting at strikes on Western countries.

"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," Putin said.

In a meeting with military commanders, Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov said Moscow's advance had "accelerated" in Ukraine and "ground down" Kiev's best units.

"We have, in fact, derailed the entire 2025 campaign," Belousov said of the Ukrainian army.

The attack, which apparently targeted an aerospace manufacturing plant in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, sparked immediate condemnation from Kiev's allies.

NATO and Ukraine will hold talks next week in Brussels over the strike, according to diplomats.

Ambassadors from countries in the NATO-Ukraine Council will hold talks on Nov. 26. The meeting was called by Keiv following the Dnipro strike, officials told AFP.

The Russian attack came after Ukraine recently fired U.S.- and U.K.-supplied missiles at Russian territory for the first time, escalating already sky-high tensions over the conflict, which is nearly in its third year.

Russian troops have been making steady advances in eastern Ukraine for months, capturing a string of small towns and villages from overstretched Ukrainian soldiers lacking manpower and artillery.