KYIV: Russia fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) during an attack on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Thursday, Kyiv’s air force said, in what would be the first use in war of a weapon designed to deliver long-distance nuclear strikes.
The launch, if confirmed, highlights rapidly rising tensions in the 33-month-old war after Ukraine fired US and British missiles at targets inside Russia this week despite warnings by Moscow that it would see such action as a major escalation.
Security experts said it would be the first military use of an intercontinental ballistic missile. ICBMs are strategic weapons designed to deliver nuclear warheads and are an important part of Russia’s nuclear deterrent.
“Today there was a new Russian missile. All the characteristics – speed, altitude – are (of an) intercontinental ballistic (missile). An expert (investigation) is currently underway,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a video statement.
The missile fired was an RS-26 Rubezh, Ukraine’s Ukrainska Pravda media outlet reported, citing anonymous sources. According to defence sources, however, there are doubts as to whether the weapon used was the RS-26 Rubezh, and said that an accurate assessment based on the available imagery would be difficult.
The Ukrainian air force said the missile was fired from the Russian region of Astrakhan, more than 700 km (435 miles) from Dnipro in central-eastern Ukraine. It did not specify what kind of warhead the missile had or what type of missile it was. There was no suggestion it was nuclear-armed. Russia’s defence ministry said air defences had shot down two British cruise missiles but did not say where.