Released on: 22/11/2024 – 13:46Changed: 22/11/2024 – 13:44

1 min

Putin gave an unscheduled televised address after the strike, telling Russians that the Ukraine conflict had acquired “elements of a global character”.

He also threatened more strikes with new weapons against Ukraine and did not rule out strikes against the West.

“Russia will overcome everything… No one can defeat it,” said Alexei Peshcherkin, a 57-year-old plumber.

He said Putin is “doing everything very well,” adding: “He gives no chance to anyone who threatens Russia.”

Russia said its launch of a nuclear-capable missile was in response to Ukraine’s first long-range missile strikes by the United States and Britain on Russian territory in recent days.

Putin supporters welcomed the hawkish rhetoric.

Alexander Timofeyev, a 72-year-old employee of the railway company, said the speech “made me feel safe”.

“There’s no question if you have someone and something protecting you,” he said.

“They are not stupid, the people who try to scare us” in the West, he added.

“But they are afraid. And fear is good sometimes.”

Timofeyev said he thought a third world war was not very likely.

“Russia will overcome”

Yulia Kim, a 52-year-old doctor, said there was an “escalation” going on between Moscow and the West.

“I’m worried that a nuclear war will start,” she said as she walked through a central square in Moscow.

“But we must fight for our independence and resist to the end.”

Andrei, a 61-year-old economist, said he was confident that “Russia has sufficient means to defend its independence”.

“Russia will overcome everything, together with its president,” he said.

Russia is under heavy Western sanctions and faces rising inflation.

In recent days, the ruble has weakened sharply against the euro.

“Inflation is tough. What can we do?” Peshcherkin said, calling the financial difficulties “temporary.”

During World War II, “we had nothing to eat… and people survived… We still have something to eat,” he said.

“Of course, it’s not good at all when there’s war, when people are dying,” he said as an icy wind blew through the Russian capital.

“Everybody just needs to be sensible and get around a negotiating table and talk,” he said.

© 2024 AFP