Volodymyr Zelensky and Commander in Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Colonel General Oleksandr Sy (Image: GETTY)
The Ukrainian leader unveiled on Friday a new “rocket-drone” that can hit targets located 430 miles away, more than twice the longest range of missiles supplied by Western allies.
The drone is called Peklo, which translates to hell in Ukrainians.
It can reach speeds of 430pmh, making it difficult to defend against.
The new weapon has been unveiled after tested a new hypersonic missile in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro.
launched the Oreshnik missile in response to the West allowing to strike Russian territory with US and UK missiles.
On Friday, Putin said: “Western countries are deliberately escalating tensions, it is them who are responsible for the present-day tragedy and they continue aggravating the situation.
“Such an irresponsible policy is driving the world to the brink of a global conflict.”
Fighting in has continued, with making advances in the east of the country.
But the election win of in the US could change the dynamic of the conflict given his promise to secure a quick peace deal.
Hopes for an end to the war may also be boosted by the fact that Russian General Valery Gerasimov reportedly spoke to US President ‘s top military adviser in a highly unusual moment this week.
The New York Times reports that Mr Gerasimov and General Charles Brown discussed how to manage recent escalations.
A spokesman for Genral Brown said the call was held “at the request of General Gerasimov, General Brown agreed to not proactively announce the call”.
He added that the two men “discussed a number of global and regional security issues, to include the ongoing conflict in “.
Pavel Podvig an expert in Russian nuclear forces, said: “This is very interesting. Call to de-escalate?”
The Institute for the Study of War think-tank said of the call: “Gerasimov’s statement to Brown, if accurate, directly undermined this ongoing information operation by admitting that the Oreshnik launch was not connected to Ukrainian strikes into with Western-provided weapons as Putin explicitly claimed in an emergency address immediately following the strike.”
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