Russia launched an intercontinental ballistic missile from its southern Astrakhan region during a morning attack on Ukraine on Thursday, Kyiv’s air force informed. This marks the first time Moscow has used such powerful, long-range missiles during the ongoing war. The attack from Russia targeted the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. It is said to be in response to Kyiv launching US-made tactical ballistic missiles at Russia’s Bryansk Region on Tuesday.
The retaliatory attack from Russia was expected, as despite repeated warnings by Moscow, Ukraine had proceeded to use ballistic missiles targeting Russian territory. The move is seen as a major escalation by Russia in the 33-month-old war. Ukraine had bombarded Russia with US and UK made missiles on 19th November.
The Ukrainian air force did not specify the target of the Russian ICBM or whether it had caused any damage, but regional governor Serhiy Lysak reported that 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.
The NATO military alliance did not immediately respond to a request for comment. “If true this will be totally unprecedented and the first actual military use of ICBM. Not that it makes a lot of sense given their price and precision,” Andrey Baklitskiy of the U.N. Institute for Disarmament Research posted on X.
German security expert Ulrich Kuehn posted: “It looks as if Russia has today used an intercontinental ballistic missile in a war for the first time in history, against the civilian target Dnipro.”
Russian war correspondents on Telegram confirmed that Kyiv had fired British Storm Shadow cruise missiles into Russia’s Kursk region bordering Ukraine on Wednesday. Ukraine also fired ATACMS missiles provided by the USA into Russia on Tuesday. The Russian defence ministry also announced that its air defence systems had
shot down two British made Storm Shadow missiles, six HIMARS rockets and 67 drones.
Earlier US president elect Donald Trump had stated he will end the war once he assumes office, Trump also criticised the billions of dollars handed to Ukraine under Biden, in the name of aid. Moscow has repeatedly asserted that the use of Western weapons to strike Russian territory far from the border would be a major escalation in the conflict. While Kyiv claims it needs the capability to defend itself by hitting Russian rear bases used to support Moscow’s invasion.
The escalatory move by Ukraine came after U.S. President Joe Biden gave the all-clear to Kyiv to use such missiles, two months before he leaves office and Donald Trump is sworn in as the next US President. Only a few days back Russian President Vladimir Putin had
lowered the threshold for a nuclear strike in response to a broader range of conventional attacks.
