Putin admitted that Russia has taken a second step toward escalation and expanding the war this year by using a new ballistic missile.

Axar.az reports that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made these remarks regarding Russian President Vladimir Putin's recent video address and the deployment of the "Oreshnik" medium-range ballistic missile.

“Today, Putin admitted to taking a second step this year toward escalating and expanding this war. A new ballistic missile was used. Putin struck our city of Dnipro, one of Ukraine’s largest cities. This is a clear and severe escalation in the scale and brutality of this war—a cynical violation of the UN Charter by Russia. Let me emphasize: this is already Russia’s second step toward escalation this year. The first was involving North Korea in the war against Ukraine with a contingent of at least 11,000 soldiers,” Zelensky said.

According to Zelensky, Ukraine’s use of long-range weapons is not new:

This is not the first time we have used such weapons, and we have every right to do so under international law. Our right to self-defense is the same as that of any other nation. And when Russian missiles hit our cities, when Iranian “Shaheds” attack Ukraine every night, when a North Korean contingent is deployed on our borders, Putin is not only prolonging the war—he is spitting in the face of those in the world who genuinely want peace to be restored,” Zelensky stated.