The Financial Times has reported, citing an unnamed US National Security Council official, that Russia is considering launching its new intermediate-range ballistic missile Oreshnik at Ukraine for the second time this weekend.

"As Putin has said publicly, Russia intends to launch another experimental Oreshnik missile at Ukraine, and it is possible that Russia could do so in the coming days," the official said. Russia aims to use "this weapon to intimidate” Ukraine and its supporters,

A Russian attack on a military industrial facility in central Ukraine on Nov. 21 marked the first use of a powerful new weapon -– a hypersonic ballistic missile with multiple warheads.