A Russian foreign ministry representative, Maria Zakharova, received a mysterious call during a press conference. According to the video, the caller asked her not to comment about Vladimir Putin's inter-ballistic missile launch on Ukraine.
The press conference was held hours after Russia allegedly launched a fresh round of air attacks, this time with intermediate-range ballistic missiles, on Ukraine.
In the video shared by Dailymail, Maria Zakharova received a call in the middle of the press conference. Her conversation with the caller was clearly audible on the mic.
“Masha don't comment at all about the inter-ballistic missile strike on Yuzhmash, as the Western media has started covering it,” the caller can be heard as saying in Russian, according to Daily Mail.
In response to the approval of the US and UK to attack Russian territory with advanced Western weapons, Russia fired a hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Thursday, reported Reuters.
The fresh attacks were made after President Vladimir Putin said that Russia's war against Ukraine interfered by “elements of global character”
"A regional conflict in Ukraine previously provoked by the West has acquired elements of a global character," Reuters quoted Putin in an address to the nation carried by state television after 8 p.m. in Moscow (1700 GMT).
Criticising the fresh attack by Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said that the use of new missile signals a “a clear and severe escalation” in the war and called for strong worldwide condemnation.
The use of the high-capability weapon has further heightened the tensions between Russia and Ukraine. According to news agency Reuters, a US official said Russia notified Washington shortly before its strike on Ukraine.
The US had also briefed Kyiv and other allies about a possible use of such weapon by Vladimir Putin, another US official told Reuters. US and NATO both made different statements about the weapons used in the air strike.
While Kyiv initially suggested Russia had fired an intercontinental ballistic missile, the US officials and NATO described the weapon to be an intermediate-range ballistic missile.
An intercontinental ballistic missile is generally used for long-distance nuclear strikes. Whereas, intermediate range ballistic missiles have a shorter range of 3,000–5,500 km (1,860-3,415 miles), according to Reuters.
