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 at they city of Dnipro.
But this has not been confirmed and one western official rejected the Ukrainian claim, telling ABC News that the weapon did not appear to be an ICBM and was instead a ballistic missile.
The attack comes after 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.
Intercontinental ballistic missiles can be used for delivering conventional or nuclear warheads.
The Russian intercontinental ballistic missile that Ukraine says was fired at the city of Dnipro on Thursday was an RS-26 Rubezh, according to a Ukraine media report.
The RS-26 has a range of 5,800 km (3,600 miles), according to the Arms Control Association.
The Russian missile attack targeted enterprises and critical infrastructure in the central-eastern city of Dnipro, the air force said.
The air force did not say what the ICBM 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.
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.
