Moscow's nuclear weapon 'could hit UK in 20 minutes'

UKRAINE warned the West yesterday that the ballistic missile Russia used to strike the country could hit the UK in just 20 minutes.

- Mark Reynolds

The chilling message came a day after Moscow used the intermediate-range weapon which is capable of carrying nuclear warheads in an attack on Dnipro.

Vladimir Putin confirmed his military had launched its "newest missile", a ballistic weapon called Oreshnik, to strike the eastern city on Thursday.

As Nato tried to play down the threat, Kyiv military chiefs revealed the time in which the new missile could reach Britain.

The country's Times of Ukraine channel also said it calculated that from a launch in Russia, the Oreshnik could hit Poland in 12 minutes and Germany in 15 minutes.

Military bosses said the Oreshnik was likely to be a revamped version of an old Cold War inter-continental RS-26 Rubezh missile.

Nato spokeswoman Farah Dakhlallah insisted Russia's use of the missile "will not change the course of the conflict, or deter Nato allies from supporting Ukraine".