Ukraine war latest: Zelensky says Putin using country as missile testing ground

The U.S. imposed fresh sanctions on Russia’s Gazprombank on Thursday, the Treasury Department said, wielding its most powerful sanctioning tool against the bank.

The move effectively kicks Gazprombank – one of Russia’s largest banks – out of the US banking system, bans their trade with Americans and freezes their US assets.

The Treasury also imposed sanctions on 50 small-to-medium Russian banks to curtail the country’s connections to the international financial system and prevent it from abusing it to pay for technology and equipment needed for the war. It warned that foreign financial institutions that maintain correspondent relationships with the targeted banks “entails significant sanctions risk.”

The sanctions were imposed under a Biden executive order. It was not immediately clear whether President-elect Donald Trump could remove them if he decided to take a different stance on Russia.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that its air defence systems shot down two British-made Storm Shadow missiles, six HIMARS rockets, and 67 drones.

The statement didn’t say when or where the Storm Shadows were shot down or what they were targeting. Russia earlier reported downing some of the missiles over the illegally annexed Crimean Peninsula.

Russia also struck Zelensky’s home city of Kryvyi Rih, wounding 26 people, said the head of regional administration, Serhii Lysak.

The missile strike caused damage to an administrative building, at least five multistory residential buildings, and civilian vehicles.

The UK’s Russian ambassador said in an interview with Sky News that “Britain is now directly involved in this war”.

Andrei Kelin said that “this fighting cannot happen without NATO and British stuff”.

Questioned by Mark Austin whether Russia’s use of Iranian drones and North Korean troops meant those countries were involved too, he added: “We have plenty of mercenaries from different countries that are fighting right now on the side of Ukraine.

“We have seen in the Kursk area the Polish unit so what does it matter?”

Watch the bizarre moment a Russian spokeswoman is instructed to say no comment to any questions on an alleged ICBM strike on Dnipro.

While answering reporters’ questions at a weekly briefing, spokeswoman Maria Zakharova was phoned by a man who used the informal “Mash” instead of Maria.

“About the ballistic missile strike on Yuzhmash (rocket company Pivdenmash) that the Western media are talking about, we are not commenting at all,” the man said.

The US decision to provide Ukraine with antipersonnel land mines expands the use of a weapon that the international community has long condemned because of its danger to innocent civilians. And it reflects another in a long line of American policy shifts on the controversial issue in the past 30 years.

US officials say the mines are needed to help Ukraine stall Russian progress on the battlefield, where Moscow’s forces are moving in smaller ground units on the frontlines rather than in more heavily protected armored vehicles.

The defence department has been providing Ukraine with anti-tank mines throughout the war. Defence secretary Lloyd Austin said the new policy will give Ukraine “nonpersistent antipersonnel land mines” that are safer because they lose the ability to detonate over time.

President Volodymr Zelensky wrote an open letter to his people on the Day of Dignity and Freedom.

This day commemorates the beginning of two landmark events in Ukraine’s modern history: the Orange Revolution of 2004 and the Revolution of Dignity in 2013.

On his personal website, he wrote:

“Dear Ukrainians, “On November 21, Ukraine celebrates the Day of Dignity and Freedom – remembering the two Ukrainian revolutions, honoring what Ukrainians truly are. Also today, our insane neighbour has once again shown what they truly are, and how they despise dignity, freedom, and human life itself. And how terrified they are.

“So terrified that they are already using new missiles. And they are searching the world for more weapons. First in Iran, then in North Korea. Today it was a new Russian missile. All the parameters: speed, altitude – match those of an intercontinental ballistic missile. All expert evaluations are underway. Obviously, Putin is using Ukraine as a testing ground. Obviously, Putin is terrified when normal life simply exists next to him. When people simply have dignity. When a country simply wants to be and has the right to be independent.

“Putin is doing whatever it takes to prevent his neighbour from breaking free of his grasp. And I thank all Ukrainians, who are defending Ukraine from this evil – unwaveringly, bravely, firmly. With dignity. This is one of the key words for Ukraine – dignity. And it is a word that will probably never be used again to describe Russia.

“Today, I will sign a Decree enacting the National Security and Defense Council’s decision on dignity. On respect for the true heroes, heroes of Ukraine, for all our dignified people, and on fair treatment of those who chose the other side – chose Russia and treachery.”

France’s foreign ministry spokesman on Thursday said he could not confirm Russia had launched an intercontinental ballistic missile in an attack on Ukraine, but added such a move would be a serious escalation if reports are true.

Kyiv’s air force earlier said Russia fired an intercontinental ballistic missile during an attack on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, in what would be the first use in war of a weapon designed to deliver long-distance nuclear strikes.

“If confirmed we will react in an appropriate manner,” Christophe Lemoine told journalists at a news conference.

Ukrainska Pravda, a Kyiv-based media outlet, cited anonymous sources saying the missile was an RS-26 Rubezh, a solid-fuelled intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of 5,800 km, according to the Arms Control Association.

The RS-26 was first successfully tested in 2012, and is estimated to be 12 metres (40 ft) long and weigh 36 tons, according to the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). It said the RS-26 can carry an 800-kg (1,765-pound)nuclear warhead.

The RS-26 is classified as an ICBM under a nuclear arms reduction treaty between the United States and Russia, but it can be seen as an intermediate-range ballistic missile when used with heavier payloads at ranges below 5,500 km, CSIS said.

Lieutenant General Rob Magowan said, “If the British Army was asked to fight tonight, it would fight tonight.”

The Royal Marines general was speaking in a parliamentary select committee hearing on Thursday, 21 November.

He went on to say that nobody in the room should be under any illusions. “If the Russians invaded Eastern Europe tonight then we would meet them in that fight,” Magowan said.

The number of those injured in the Russian missile attack on Kryvyi Rih has increased to 17 people, 10 of whom are in hospitals.

Serhiy Lysak, the head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration, wrote on Telegram: “According to the updated information, there are 17 victims in Kryvyi Rih. Ten of them are in the hospital,” Lysak said.

According to Lysak, a 38-year-old woman suffered cut wounds to her head. Her condition is critical.