The Kremlin pointed to the Biden administration's desire to follow the path of escalation

The outgoing administration of US President Joe Biden shows a desire to escalate the conflict in Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on November 22.

"We see that the outgoing administration prefers to go further down the path of escalation and is doing so quite recklessly," he said, assessing the likelihood that Washington would heed Russian President Vladimir Putin's announcement to test a new Russian Oreshnik missile in response to aggression.

Moscow would prefer that the US authorities heed the Russian leader's clear warning back in September about the inadmissibility of using foreign missiles to strike Russia, Peskov said.

At the same time, he pointed out that yesterday Putin again expressed readiness for any contacts to reach a peaceful trajectory, which has not happened so far.

Peskov called the head of state's latest statement exhaustive, logical and understandable. The Kremlin has no doubt that the White House had the opportunity to read and understand it, the presidential spokesman summarized.

Hypersonic effect: the Oreshnik strike on the plant in Dnipropetrovsk was a response to the escalation

What is known about the newest Russian ballistic missile mentioned by Vladimir Putin in his address to Russians

Putin said the previous night that Ukraine had used Western long-range weapons against the Russian state, causing the regional conflict to take on elements of a global conflict. He also said that one of Russia's newest medium-range missile systems, the Oreshnik ballistic missile, had been tested under combat conditions.

The strike was carried out at the Yuzhmash plant in Dnipropetrovsk. Denis Pushilin, head of the Donetsk People's Republic (DNR), called the launch a fair response to Kiev's aggression against peaceful Russian cities.

Earlier, on November 17, The New York Times reported that Biden had authorized Ukraine to use ATACMS missiles to strike Russia. The White House did not officially confirm this fact, but on November 19, five ATACMS launched by the Ukrainian army were shot down in the Bryansk region and another one was damaged.

The possible authorization for Kiev to use the West's long-range weapons to strike Russian territory has been actively discussed in recent months. Back in September, Putin warned that approval of such measures in the United States and the European Union would indicate their direct involvement in the Ukrainian conflict and would fundamentally change its essence.

The special operation to protect Donbass, which began on February 24, 2022, is ongoing. The decision was taken against the background of the worsening situation in the region.