International

President Zelensky Hits Back At Putin’s Missile Threat

Published

12 hours ago

Dec 20, 2024.

Dennis

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky responded sharply to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s year-end press conference on Thursday, mocking the Kremlin leader with a crude remark in an online comment.

During the conference, Putin praised the power of the Oreshnik, a new nuclear-capable ballistic missile that Russia recently launched at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. He also reiterated his previous threat to strike Ukraine again with the missile, proposing it be targeted at Kyiv to test the effectiveness of Western-supplied air defence systems.

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“Let them propose … some kind of technological experiment – a kind of high-tech duel of the 21st century, let’s say,” Putin said. “Let them determine some target to be hit, for example in Kyiv, they concentrate all their air and missile defence forces there, and we will strike there with the Oreshnik. And we’ll see what happens.”

He added: “We are ready for such an experiment. In any case, we don’t rule it out. We will conduct such an experiment, such a technological duel, and see what happens. It’s interesting.”

Zelensky posted an excerpt of those remarks on X, commenting in English: “People are dying, and he thinks it’s ‘interesting’… Dumbass.” He also posted a similar comment in Ukrainian.

Putin appeared to make similarly glib remarks about the war in Ukraine at the beginning of his comments Thursday, intimating that war was making life more interesting.

“You know, when everything is calm, measured, stable, you get bored. Stagnation. You need some action. As soon as the action starts, everything whizzes past your head: seconds, bullets. Unfortunately, bullets are whistling now.”

On Thursday, Vladimir Putin held his annual year-end news conference, which featured both a public Q&A and a live phone-in session. The event is an annual display of his control over Russia’s political landscape.

The ongoing war in Ukraine was a central topic, with Putin focusing on Russia’s recent advances in the protracted conflict. He also mentioned that although he had not communicated with US President-elect Donald Trump in over four years, he was “ready” for potential talks, anticipating that the new administration in Washington may seek a negotiated resolution to the war in Ukraine.