Putin says Russia has the right to retaliate against other countries' military facilities

Russia has declared that it has the right to strike military facilities of other countries in case of attacks on its territories. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on November 21.

"We consider ourselves entitled to use our weapons against the military facilities of those countries that allow the use of their weapons against our facilities," the Russian president said.

He noted that the positions of the enemy, on which to strike, Russia will determine based on the threats. Putin also specified that it would respond "decisively and mirroring" in case of escalation.

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How the current events will affect the course of the conflict in Ukraine and Russia's response to it

On the same day, Putin said Ukraine had used Western long-range weapons against the Russian state. According to him, the regional conflict has acquired elements of a global character. The head of state also said that one of Russia's newest medium-range missile systems was tested in combat conditions - a nuclear-free hypersonic ballistic missile called Oreshnik was used.

On November 19, the Russian military shot down five ATACMS missiles launched by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) in the Bryansk region and damaged another. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called it a signal that the West wants to escalate the conflict.

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov emphasized that the Biden administration wants the conflict in Ukraine to continue, and the AFU strikes by Western long-range missiles deep into Russian territories are a new escalation. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned that such use of missiles would receive an "adequate and tangible" response.

Western countries have stepped up military and financial support for Ukraine amid Russia's special operation to protect Donbass, which began on February 24, 2022. The decision to carry it out was taken by the Russian president because of the aggravation of the situation in the region due to the increased shelling by Ukrainian troops.