Russia launched an intercontinental ballistic missile from its southern Astrakhan region during a morning attack on Ukraine on Thursday, Kyiv’s air force said. This is the first time Russia has used such a powerful, long-range missile during the war.
The strike comes after Ukraine used US and British missiles to strike targets within Russia this week, something Moscow had warned for months would be seen as a major escalation.
The Russian attack targeted enterprises and critical infrastructure in the central-eastern city of Dnipro, the air force said, at a time of escalating moves in the 33-month-old war launched by Russia in Ukraine.
It was unclear from the statement what the intercontinental ballistic missile targeted and whether it caused any damage.
The missiles have a range of thousands of miles and can be used for delivering nuclear warheads, though they can also have conventional warheads.
Ukrainian air defenses shot down six Kh-101 cruise missiles during the attack.
“In particular, an intercontinental ballistic missile was launched from the Astrakhan region of the Russian Federation,” the air force said, detailing the types of weapon used in the attack.
It did not say what kind of intercontinental ballistic missile was fired.
Ukraine launches Storm Shadow missiles inside Russia
Ukraine launched the British-French-made Storm Shadow missiles at targets inside Russia for the first time on Wednesday, according to a Russian military blog and Reuters, a day after Ukraine fired US-made ATACMS missiles into Russia.
Ukraine’s use of the UK-supplied missiles to hit Russian territory was confirmed to Reuters by an official on condition of anonymity. British media also reported the use of the cruise missile on Wednesday, citing sources.
Ukraine’s Defense Minister Rustem Umerov refused to confirm or deny the use of the UK-French-made missiles during a Wednesday news conference.
When Umerov was asked if Ukraine used the Storm Shadow missiles to hit a target inside Russia, he replied, “We are using all the means to defend our country, so we’ll not go into detail. But we are just saying that we are capable and able to respond.”
Umerov added: “We’ll be defending and giving punches back … with all the means available.”
The UK and France have previously supplied the longer-range Storm Shadow missiles for Ukraine to use inside its own borders. The missiles have a range of about 250 kilometers (155 miles), which is slightly shorter than the range of the American ATACMS (186 miles).
BBC’s diplomatic correspondent Paul Adams wrote on Wednesday that “Ukraine has so far confined the use of Storm Shadow to the Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops continue to hold ground.” He noted reports were still murky, and the target is not known, “but Storm Shadow is powerful enough to penetrate bunkers, with extreme accuracy.”
Related: Russia Warns of World War III After US Missile Support for Ukraine
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