In an interview with Rossiya-24 TV, reported by TASS Dec. 18, Russia’s Ambassador in London Andrey Kelin observed that Moscow’s use of the Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic hypersonic missile on Ukraine’s territory on Nov. 21 has forced London to take a more cautious approach regarding strikes deep inside Russia with long-range missiles. It’s not that they are scared, he said, but first of all, “overall they realized that a completely new factor had appeared on the scene.” Secondly, Russia has retaliated for the use of the U.K.’s Storm Shadow long-range missiles deep inside Russia. “That’s obvious as well.”
So, Kelin said, it appears that the Brits are being “a little more cautious, a little more balanced in their approach to this issue,” and are now “closely following what is happening.” He pointed out that while the initial U.K. response was somewhat “vague,” in the “expert community there was undoubtedly a serious study of the abilities, capabilities of the Oreshnik missile, its deployment on the territory of Belarus, from which, let’s say, any point in Europe is reachable.”
The Russian ambassador recounted the chronology of the U.S. and its NATO allies authorizing Ukraine’s deployment of long-range missiles into the Kursk and Bryansk regions and Moscow’s response, firing the Oreshnik hypersonic IRBM at Ukraine’s Yuzhmash defense industry facility in Dnipro. He pointedly referenced the discussion between President Putin and Belarussian President Aleksandr Lukashenko about deploying Oreshnik missiles in Belarus by the end of 2025.
