Russia-Ukraine war: key events, day 1002 24

These were the most important events that happened on the 1002 day of the Russia-Ukraine War.

Ballistic missile attack

• President Vladimir Putin has announced that Russian forces have used a hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile to target the Ukrainian city of Dnipro in retaliation to the growing aggression of the US and UK, which have armored Kyiv with Western sophisticated arms for attacks on the Russian mainland, thus deepening the unprecedented 33-month-old conflict.
• Putin added that, if such strikes are repeated, civilians would be given an alert beforehand, and he also noted that the conflict has “acquired elements of a global character.”
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the threat and the actual use of the newly supplied missile as “a blatant and alarming provocation, which must be taken seriously” and regretted that the response was not as forceful and unified as it should have been – “ at this point, there is no strong reaction from the world”.
• Initially, Kyiv claimed the target was hit using an intercontinental ballistic missile – a sort of weapon granted solely for long-range nuclear operations where it has never been deployed to – however, US officials and NATO members concurred with Putin that the missile used was of intermediate-range ballistic class, range of 3000-5500 km (1860-3415 miles).
• An unnamed US official associated with Reuters stated that Russia ‘tipped off’ the US of its plans to carry out a missile strike not long before the attack, though another said Russian officials had already given a heads up to Kyiv and allies that such weapons might be used.
• However, the Ministry of Defence of Russia claimed that two Storm Shadow cruise missiles, which were launched by Ukraine, had been intercepted by air defense forces.
• Russia’s ambassador to the UK Andrei Kelin warned that “Britain is now directly involved in this war”.
• In addition, Russia stated that a new ballistic missile defense facility being built by the US in Northern Poland will increase the general level of nuclear threat. Warsaw has claimed that “threats” coming from Moscow only serve to reinforce the case for strengthening NATO’s defenses.

Fighting

• According to the Russian Defense Ministry, its troops have seized control of the village of Dalne in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region.
• The General staff of Ukraine did not admit that Dalne is under the control of the Russians, although it included it in the list of seven villages where, in the last 24 hours, Russian troops have made forty attempts to break through the Ukrainian defensive positions.
• The parliament of Ukraine has rescheduled a session that was scheduled to occur on Friday because of “possible safety concerns”.
• Russian missiles fired over the weekend damaged three out of the five operational thermal power plants owned by DTEK, the largest energy company in Ukraine, one of which has still not been restored, a source in the energy sector has revealed, indicating the degree of damage to the national grid in the recent attack.

North Korea

• President Joe Biden has changed his stand on the issue of Ukraine targeting Russian cities with US-supplied missiles, especially in light of North Korea joining the war. As stated by two sources knowledgeable about the resolution.
• The head of North Korea’s regime Kim Jong Un accused the United States of fuelling tensions and provocations, claiming that there has not been a time in the history of the Korean Peninsula when the threat of a nuclear war was as dire as it is now, state news agency reported.
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• During the talks held between the South Korean and Japanese defense ministers, they rebuked the North Korean government for its decision to send troops to Russia, according to a statement by South Korea’s Defense Ministry.

Sanctions

• According to a statement that has appeared on the website of the US Department of Treasury, the new sanctions against Russia also target Gazprombank and have been introduced by the US.
• Secondly, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia have sent the European Commission a letter asking that a customs duty be introduced for fertilizers imported from Russia and Belarus.