Tomahawk supply to Ukraine would destroy Russia-US relationship: Putin
Putin’s warning came as tensions continued to rise on the battlefield, with Russia pressing ahead with large-scale strikes on Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that if the United States supplied Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine for long-range strikes deep into Russia, then it would lead to the destruction of Moscow's relationship with Washington.
"This will lead to the destruction of our relations, or at least the positive trends that have emerged in these relations," Putin said in a video clip released on Sunday.
US Vice President JD Vance said last month that Washington was considering a Ukrainian request to obtain long-range Tomahawks that could strike deep into Russia, including Moscow, though it is unclear if a final decision has been made.
Tomahawk cruise missiles have a range of 2,500 kilometres (1,550 miles), which means that if Ukraine got the missiles then the Kremlin and all of European Russia would be within target.
Putin on Thursday said that it was impossible to use Tomahawks without the direct participation of US military personnel, and so any supply of such missiles to Ukraine would trigger a "qualitatively new stage of escalation".
Targeting residential buildings, energy infrastructure
Putin’s warning came as tensions continued to rise on the battlefield, with Russia pressing ahead with large-scale strikes on Ukraine.
At least five civilians died after Russia launched drones, missiles, and guided aerial bombs at Ukraine overnight into Sunday, in a major attack that officials there said targeted civilian infrastructure.
Moscow sent over 50 ballistic missiles and around 500 drones into nine regions across Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday morning. Four people died in a combined drone and missile strike on Lviv, according to regional officials and Ukraine’s emergency service.
The historic western city is often seen as a haven from the fighting and destruction further east. At least four more people sustained injuries, the emergency service said.
The strike left two districts without power and public transport suspended for a few hours early Sunday, mayor Andriy Sadovyi reported.
He added that a business complex on the outskirts of Lviv was on fire following the strike. In the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, a nighttime aerial assault killed a civilian woman and wounded nine other people, including a 16-year-old girl, regional Governor Ivan Fedorov reported.
The overnight air attack damaged energy infrastructure in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region and Chernihiv region in northern Ukraine, Kiev's energy ministry said on Sunday.
In a statement on Telegram, it said "a significant number" of consumers in Zaporizhzhia were left without power and that emergency outages were being implemented in Chernihiv and Sumy, another northern region which had come under attack on Saturday.