Ukraine, Europe should not bow to intimidation from Russian dictator - Czech foreign minister

The use of a medium-range ballistic missile against Ukraine is an attempt to intimidate the population of Ukraine and Europe by the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, before whom no one should bow.

This was stated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, Jan Lipavsky, who spoke at a joint briefing in Kyiv with his Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha, Ukrinform reports.

"There’s no reason why Russia sent suck rocket on Ukraine — there’s no reason for any of those attacks that are happening daily. Soon, it will be almost three years. Definitely, the usage of rocket, which is typically designed for nuclear strike is escalatory step and it’s an attempt of Russian dictator to scare the population of Ukraine and Europe. We should not bow to that. We should understand that," he said.

Lipavsky expressed support for the handover of air defense systems to Ukraine to protect its citizens from these brutal attacks and emphasized that the Czech Republic imposes no restrictions on the use of arms and weapon systems provided to Ukraine.

“But, needless to say, we’re not providing such systems, which could provide in Washington, Berlin in terms of distance. Ukraine has a full right to self-defense against Russian attacks also on the territory of Russia,” he said, adding that in his opinion, it would better to hit a missile carrier before take-off rather than try to shoot down the incoming missile from the sky.

“I think in this logic these weapons could be used for self-defense, of course,” the minister added.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, referring to the Ukrainian Air Force, on the morning of November 21, the Russians launched an intercontinental ballistic missile, the Kinzhal, and seven Kh-101 cruise missiles at the city of Dnipro, while Ukraine’s air defense forces intercepted six Kh-101 missiles.

Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin said that the Russian army hit Dnipro with a medium-range ballistic missile, Oreshnik, allegedly in response to the use of American and British long-range missiles by the Armed Forces of Ukraine against targets inside Russia.

In connection with Russia's use of a new type of weapon against Ukraine, during the attack on the Dnieper River, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is already informing partners and activating the response mechanisms within the UN and NATO, and plans to engage OSCE mechanisms.