"Once again, the Oreshnik has been used, this time against the Lviv region. It was again very close to the borders of the European Union," Zelensky said in his daily video address.
"From the perspective of deploying a medium-range ballistic missile, this constitutes the same signal and the same challenge for Warsaw, Bucharest and even Budapest, as well as for other capitals," he added.
Zelensky described Russia’s actions as cynical, arguing that "Moscow does not even attempt to provide a credible justification for using such weapons."
"What is needed is a system of joint action, a system of collective defense that truly works," he said. "Do we have such a system today? That question remains unanswered, because across Europe the same dilemma persists: will Europeans defend their own capitals?"
Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said following telephone consultations that Russia’s Oreshnik missile strike on Ukraine overnight into Friday amounted to an "unacceptable escalation."
According to Downing Street, Starmer said Russia had relied on "fabricated accusations" to justify the attack.
Moscow claimed the strike was a retaliation for an alleged Ukrainian drone attack on President Vladimir Putin’s residence in the Novgorod region of northwestern Russia on December 29. Ukrainian authorities denied that any such operation took place.
The Wall Street Journal, citing a CIA assessment, reported that neither Putin’s residence nor Putin himself had been targets of any Ukrainian drone attack.
Ukraine on Friday imposed emergency power outages following Russian strikes. In Kyiv, electricity was cut for around 12 hours in many districts, while numerous residents were left without heating and running water, according to reports.
(aj/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, ukrinform.net