MOSCOW, November 24. /TASS/. The strike with the Oreshnik missile on a Ukrainian military facility is a "warning bell" for the West, led by the United States, it was timely and effective, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with VGTRK journalist Pavel Zarubin.

"[These are] such warning bells meaning - don't even think about it. I mean the strike that was carried out by our new missile. It was very timely. It was in demand and effective," he said.

Peskov added that by authorizing strikes deep into Russia with its missiles, the US administration ignored Russian President Vladimir Putin's warnings about the possible consequences, and he needed to take decisive and tough steps.

"I think that what happened here was a mixture of the frenzy of those who make decisions, a mixture of their nature, the war party, and also a thirst for domestic political revenge. All these factors, they merged in Washington, and this is where this decision came from. They decided to ignore Putin's warning. This is where this situation came about and required such decisive steps and tough statements from our President," the Kremlin spokesman said.

Peskov recalled that in September Putin had warned that if the decision to strike deep into Russia was made, this would mean direct participation of NATO countries in the conflict in Ukraine. If this is so, then, bearing in mind the change in the very essence of this conflict, the Russian Federation will make appropriate decisions based on the threats that will be created for it. "He sent an absolutely clear and reasoned signal. Of course, there was still hope that the countries would listen to this," the Kremlin representative noted.

Russia’s responses

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on November 21 that the United States and its NATO allies had earlier announced that they would authorize Ukraine’s use of long-range weapons to hit inside Russia, after which American and British missiles struck Russian military facilities in the Kursk and Bryansk regions. He said that Russia responded to those attacks by firing Russia's newest Oreshnik hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile with a non-nuclear warhead at a Ukrainian defense industry facility, the Yuzhmash plant in Dnepr (formerly Dnepropetrovsk). The Russian leader emphasized that the West's provocative policies could have dire consequences if they further escalate the conflict.

On November 19, Putin signed a decree ratifying the updated nuclear doctrine, Basic Principles of State Policy of the Russian Federation on Nuclear Deterrence. The core principle of the document is that nuclear weapons are the last resort to safeguard the country's sovereignty.

Specifically, the document broadens the scope of countries and alliances subject to nuclear deterrence. The list of military threats against which nuclear deterrence can be employed has also been revised. Aggression from any non-nuclear state, with the involvement or support of a nuclear state, will be treated as a joint attack on Russia.