Strike on Ukraine with new ballistic missile sign of Putin's desperation – former Bundeswehr colonel
Roderich Kiesewetter, former Bundeswehr colonel and current member of the Bundestag, stated this in a comment to Ukrinform.
"From a military point of view, firing this intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of 6000 km at a target just 100 km from the front is nonsensical. The threat to Ukrainian civilians and military from Russian guided bombs is much greater. This is more of a desperate reaction from Putin to the launch of ATACMS and Storm Shadow/Scalp cruise missiles at military targets in Russia, because Ukraine has achieved significant military-strategic successes in a very short time, successfully destroying Russian ammunition and weapon depots," former Bundeswehr colonel thinks.
He views Russia's use of the new medium-range missile Oreshnik primarily as part of a large propaganda spectacle, an attempt by Putin to use a demonstration of power to deter and intimidate Ukraine's Western supporters. Kiesewetter added that the Kremlin leader is threatening to use this intercontinental ballistic missile against Western countries.
"This is part of a political deterrence strategy. It's an attempt to 'hold back' the West from further supporting Ukraine, as the actual effect — military escalation — has been generally limited and nothing new," the Christian Democratic Union politician said, also noting that Russia intensifies the war against Ukraine on a daily basis.
Kiesewetter emphasized that Ukraine's friends should not allow themselves to be intimidated and must recognize that the decision to allow Ukraine to expand the use of provided weapons for targeted strikes on Russian territory has long been overdue, and that Russia can only respond with propaganda escalation.
Therefore, Ukraine must be provided with even more long-range precision weapons, such as ATACMS, but also German Taurus missiles, the politician stressed. He pointed out that Putin's desperate reaction shows that this successfully hinders Russia's actions that violate international law.
At the same time, the parliamentarian added, responsible Western politicians must expose Russia's toxic and dangerous narrative and inform the public, especially in Germany, about the treacherous actions of the Kremlin. Through his actions, Putin aims to weaken the cohesion of Western societies and, particularly in Germany, to replace the foundations of "peace in freedom and self-determination" with an illusory "peace" under a false ceasefire, which threatens Ukraine's very existence.
As reported by Ukrinform, according to the Ukrainian Air Force, on the morning of November 21, the Russian forces launched an intercontinental ballistic missile, Kinzhal missile, and seven Kh-101 cruise missiles at Dnipro. Ukrainian air defense units destroyed six Kh-101 missiles.
