Russia has launched an intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time in Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, claims Kyiv’s air force.
It stated that the weapon, which has a range of thousands of kilometres, was fired from Russia’s southern Astrakhan region during a morning attack on Thursday on the central city of Dnipro.
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky said: “Today there was a new Russian missile. All the characteristics – speed, altitude – are (of an) intercontinental ballistic (missile). An expert (investigation) is currently underway.”
The Ukrainian claim of an intercontinental ballistic missile has not been confirmed and one western official told ABC News that the weapon did not appear to be an ICBM and was instead a ballistic missile.
Another source suggested it was an intermediate range ballistic missile, though the most developed of these are close to lower level ICBMs.
Russian President Vladimir Putin later said the attack was carried out with a “new conventional intermediate range” hypersonic ballistic missile codenamed Oreshnik.
“In response to the use of American and British long-range weaponry on 21 November this year, the Russian armed forces carried out a combined strike on one of Ukraine’s military-industrial complex sites,” Putin said.
“In combat conditions, a test was carried out of one of the latest Russian intermediate-range missile systems. In this case, with a non-nuclear hypersonic version of a ballistic missile,” he said, before adding that the “test was successful. The target was reached”.
Ukraine reportedly used US and British long range missiles to strike targets inside Russia this week.
Moscow had warned of a response to the move by America and the UK which came after North Korea sent thousands of soldiers to western Russia to join Putin’s 33-month-old war. Putin suggested the new missile could be attack military facilities of the UK and US if their weapons were being used to strike into Russia.
Intercontinental ballistic missiles can be used for delivering conventional or nuclear warheads.
President Zelensky said later the use of the missile was a “clear and severe escalation” in the war and called for strong worldwide condemnation.
“This is a clear and severe escalation in the scale and brutality of this war,” Zelenskiy wrote on X, referring to a strike on the central city of Dnipro.
“The use of a ballistic missile against Ukraine today is yet more proof that Russia has no interest in peace.”
“The world must respond,” he wrote. “Right now, there is no strong reaction from the world.”
The Russian missile attack targeted enterprises and critical infrastructure in Dnipro, the air force said.
The air force did not say what the missile had targeted or whether it had caused any damage.
But regional governor Serhiy Lysak said the missile attack caused damage to an industrial enterprise and set off fires in Dnipro. Two people were hurt.
Russia also fired a Kinzhal hypersonic missile and seven Kh-101 cruise missiles, six of which were shot down, the Ukrainian air force said.
“In particular, an intercontinental ballistic missile was launched from the Astrakhan region of the Russian Federation,” the air force said, detailing types of weapon used in the attack.
It did not say what kind of intercontinental ballistic missile was fired, what it targeted and whether it caused any damage.
The development came after British Storm Shadow missiles were reportedly used by Ukraine to strike in Russia.
Wreckage from one of the long-range weapons was found in Russia’s Kursk region, which borders Ukraine, with up to 12 of the missiles deployed, according to multiple reports.
Kyiv forces seized a part of Kursk in a surprise attack in the summer.
The use of Storm Shadows in Russia comes a day after Moscow said American ATACMS long-range weapons had been fired into its territory.
The Russian Ambassador to the UK on Thursday claimed the use of the British long-range missiles meant Britain was now ‘directly involved’ in the Ukraine war.
In apparent response, Putin lowered the threshold for using nuclear weapons, after President Joe Biden gave Kyiv permission to fire US ATACMS long-range missiles into Russia.
However, military experts doubt the Russian president will use nuclear weapons, a move which China has reportedly warned against doing.
In London, Defence Secretary John Healey was due to face questions from MPs on the Commons Defence Committee on Thursday amid the reports of Storm Shadow missiles provided by Britain being used by Ukraine within Russia.
The Government has not been commenting on the use of Storm Shadows by Ukraine.
