Earlier, Putin criticized Ukraine's allies for giving Kiev permission to use Western-supplied weapons to strike targets on Russian territory and warned of retaliatory measures."We carried out a comprehensive strike," Putin told allies during a visit to Kazakhstan a few hours after the attack, AFP reported.
"This was a response to the ongoing attacks on our territory by (US) ATACM missiles," he added.
Putin announced that Russia had fired more than 90 missiles and 100 drones, specifying that 17 targets had been hit - the kind of detail the president rarely gives.
The attack left more than a million people without electricity in freezing temperatures in Ukraine.
Putin said Russia knows how many long-range weapons have been handed over to Kiev and "where they are."
He pointed out that Russia was "forced to test" its new Oreshnik ballistic missile on Ukraine last week, in a move that shocked Kiev and the West by threatening more such "test" strikes.
Russian armed forces are choosing targets for strikes in Ukraine, including "decision-making centers in Kiev," the Russian president added.
"During the conflict, Kiev tried to strike buildings of state importance in St Petersburg and Moscow," Putin charged.
The Kremlin chief boasted that Oreshnik could turn anything it hit "into dust" and that several weapons fired together would be "comparable to a nuclear strike."
He claimed that "Oreshnik" could move at a speed of "about three kilometres per second" and that its attacking elements reached a temperature almost "like the surface of the Sun".
"If there are more strikes on Russian territory using Western long-range missiles, we will respond, including by possibly continuing to test Oreshnik in combat conditions," Putin concluded. | BGNES
