Putin plans chilling ‘response’ to Western rocket strikes as Russia reveals pics of ATACMS wreckage & expels UK diplomat
Ukraine is now striking Russia with Western-supplied long-range missiles
VLADIMIR Putin has issued a chilling threat to the West against American and British rockets being used by Ukraine to attack Russia.
The tyrant’s “response” comes after the Kremlin ramped up the aggression in its invasion of Ukraine as it expelled a UK diplomat.
Moscow’s military vowed a chilling “response” to fresh Ukrainian air attacks deep inside Russia using US-supplied ATACMS missiles today.
Russia’s defence ministry posted a short but chilling threat on Telegram, writing: “Retaliatory actions are being prepared.”
This followed Kyiv launching long-range rockets for the first time on 18 November, after US President Joe Biden approved their use by Volodymyr Zelensky’s troops.
Russia’s defence ministry on Tuesday said Ukraine had carried out fresh strikes, on 23 and 25 November, using the ATACMS rockets.
Two out of five missiles launched on Saturday damaged a Russian S-400 air defence system.
Two soldiers were wounded in the second attack which saw eight missiles launched at the Kursk-Vostochny airport, which is also a military airbase.
Russia’s defence ministry posted pictures of what it said were fragments of a ATACMS, showing large casings on the road.
The Ukrainian military also fired British Storm Shadow rockets, which are capable of dodging air defences, on 20 November.
This deadly strike was said to have killed a top-Russian military man, Lt-Gen Valery Solodchuk, and 500 North Korean troops, who were sent to help Putin’s army.
This elicited a furious reaction from Moscow who retaliated by firing intercontinental ballistic rockets into several Ukrainian cities for the first time, on Thursday.
Putin previously threatened to continue unleashing his devastating ICBMs on Ukraine and already threatened to strike the UK and US “if necessary,” in a press conference last week.
The despot said he would not hold back from using the destructive “Oreshnik” hypersonic ballistic weapon, which hit the Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Thursday.
Kyiv fears Russia may already have 10 of the terrifying weapons in its arsenal with Putin vowing to mass produce dozens more.
Putin has also taken political swipes at the West as the expulsion of the British diplomat Wilkes Edward Prior was revealed today.
And a furious Putin also barred Cabinet members including Labour politicians Angela Rayner, Yvette Cooper and Rachel Reeves from entering Russia under new sanctions.
The Russian ministry said it was putting members of the UK’s political and military establishment as well as journalists on its “stop list”.
Diplomat Prior was accused by the Kremlin of “intentionally providing false information when receiving permission to enter our country, thereby violating Russian legislation.”
Russia said he came to the country after six other diplomats were expelled in August.
Moscow said: “A decision was taken to withdraw his accreditation and he was ordered to leave Russia within two weeks.”
The statement added: “Signs of intelligence and subversive work threatening the security of the Russian Federation have been revealed.”
The Kremlin provided no details or proof of these accusations.
A No.10 spokesman said: “To be clear, we refute these allegations. They’re baseless.
“We’re now considering our response. This is not the first time that Putin’s government has made malicious, baseless accusations against our staff.
“You’ll remember that the Kremlin baselessly curtailed the accreditation of six UK diplomats in Russia earlier this year following action taken by the UK Government in response to the Russian state directing activity across Europe and in the UK.
“Today’s announcement is no surprise coming from President Putin’s government, which has overseen an illegal war in Ukraine.
“The UK Government is unapologetic about protecting our national interests and will now respond in due course, and our embassy in Moscow will continue its important work in Russia to support UK interests.”
The UK government is also dealing with a number of “unmanned aerial devices” spotted above US airbases in the UK.
The small number of drones were sighted in the skies near RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall, in Suffolk, and RAF Feltwell, in Norfolk, a US Air Force spokesperson confirmed.
Military troops have since been drafted in over concerns Russia is behind a spate of sabotage flights and The Sun understands the RAF deployed their ORCUS counter drone weapons in response.
