Vladimir Putin’s top commander informed the U.S. a hypersonic missile Moscow launched at Ukraine was planned before the Biden administration allowed Kyiv to use long-range ATACMS inside Russian territory, it has been reported.
This account reported by The New York Times is at odds with Putin’s comments, which seemed to link the November 21 launch of the Oreshnik at Dnipro to the U.S. decision days earlier to allow Kyiv to use Army Tactical Missile Systems to strike Russia.
The circumstances of the intermediate-range missile fired at Dnipro was outlined by General Valery Gerasimov in a call to U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles C.Q. Brown, according to the newspaper.
The NYT cited U.S. officials as saying that during the call on November 27, Gerasimov had planned the ballistic missile launch “long before” Biden gave the green light to Ukraine to use the long-range weapons.
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While the Oreshnik only carried conventional warheads, its launch was seen as a signal that Moscow could strike with nuclear weapons and a response to the U.S. giving Ukraine the OK to use ATACMS.
Afterwards, Putin said that Russia was “developing intermediate- and shorter-range missiles as a response to U.S. plans to produce and deploy intermediate- and shorter-range missiles in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.” The timing of the launch coincided with Putin formalizing Russia’s nuclear doctrine that lowered the threshold for atomic weapons use, further ramping up tensions.
When contacted for comment, Joint Staff Spokesperson Navy Capt. Jereal Dorsey told Newsweek in a statement that Gerasimov and Brown spoke following a request by the Russian defense ministry.
“This was the first time the leaders spoke since Gen. Brown became Chairman,” the statement said. “The leaders discussed a number of global and regional security issues to include the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. At the request of Gen. Gerasimov, Gen. Brown agreed to not proactively announce the call.”
Dorsey’s statement did not mention the Oreshnik launch. However, ABC News gave more details of the phone call, reporting that Gerasimov had also warned Brown that Russia was going to conduct test hypersonic missile launches in the Mediterranean Sea.
Citing an unnamed U.S. official, Gerasimov had warned U.S. Navy Ships to stay out of the target area and discussed “how to avoid miscalculation between the U.S. and Russia” over the war in Ukraine, according to ABC. Newsweek has contacted the Russian defense ministry and the Pentagon for comment.
The Russian missile Gerasimov was referring to took place this week in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, where the U.S. Navy has three amphibious ships and destroyers that provide missile defense for Israel.
Russia’s defense ministry said Tuesday that its Admiral Gorshkov and Admiral Golovko frigates fired hypersonic Zircon missiles, the submarine Novorossiysk launched a Kalibr cruise missile and an Onyx cruise missile was launched from the Mediterranean coast.
The exercises in the eastern Mediterranean between December 1 and December 3 involved over 1,000 troops, 10 ships and support vessels and 24 aircraft, the defense ministry said.
Update 12/05/24, 10.30 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from Jereal Dorsey.
