UN Alarmed as Russia Fires Nuclear-Capable Hypersonic Missile Near NATO Border

Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo, who briefed the Council on Monday, said, "The Oreshnik system is believed to be capable of carrying nuclear weapons, which has heightened concern over its deployment".

This was the second time since 2004 that the "the potentially devastating weapon" has been fired at Ukraine, she said.

An intermediate-range ballistic missile that can carry nuclear weapons and travel at 2,300 kilometres per hour - about ten times the speed of sound - the Oreshnik hit targets in Lviv on Friday.

Russia's Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia boasted at the Council that "there is no air defence protection so far" against the Oreshnik.

The deployment of the missile, as the US and the Europeans intensified peace efforts, was seen as an escalation of the war by Russia's President Vladimir Putin.

US Deputy Permanent Representative Tammy Bruce said, "This constitutes another dangerous and inexplicable escalation of this war, even as the United States is urgently working with Kyiv, other partners, and Moscow, to end the war through a negotiated settlement".

Britain's Deputy Permanent Representative James Kariuki like many others, echoed the characterisation saying it "threatens regional and international security, and carries significant risk of escalation and miscalculation."

Ukraine called for the Council meeting after Russia started a massive attack using missiles and drones, as frigid temperatures amplified the effects of Moscow's barrage that hit infrastructure facilities and other civilian targets around the country.

DiCarlo said that between Thursday and Friday, Russia "reportedly launched 242 drones and 36 missiles".

Ukraine's Permanent Representative Andriy Melnyk said the attacks showed that Russia was sinking "even lower in proving that there is no bottom to its criminal intent".

Ramesh Rajasingham, who heads the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said that as temperatures dropped to nearly minus 10 degrees Celsius, "the plight of civilians has grown more desperate, as large-scale attacks continue to push energy systems, emergency services and the very means of winter survival to the brink".

Millions of people were without heat or water, Di Carlo said.

Nebenzia defended the escalation and the deployment of the Oreshnik, saying it was in retaliation for a Ukrainian attack on a residence of Putin.

Melnyk denied that his country had targeted a Putin home, as did some of the Western countries.

DiCarlo said that Ukraine had hit energy infrastructure and civilian targets in Russia, and the attacks on Friday "deprived millions of Ukrainians of electricity, heating and water.

Melnyk said that Russia was facing a serious crisis, despite its bravado, using "smoke and mirrors".

Its economy was in shambles, and it was facing a massive labour shortage with its people fleeing the country as the war took a toll on Russia, he said.

US President Donald Trump is currently tilting towards Kyiv in his efforts to end the war after Putin stood firm in his hardline position, refusing to negotiate on the 20-point plan offered by Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky with European backing.

In one of the harshest criticisms of Moscow, Bruce said, "We condemn Russia's continuing and intensifying attacks on Ukraine's energy facilities and other civil infrastructure. These attacks make a mockery of the cause of peace, a cause of paramount importance to the world, and to President Trump".

- IANS