Did Russia launch intercontinental ballistic missile strike against Ukraine?- The Week

Amid changing the Russia-Ukraine war situation, Kyiv claimed that the Kremlin launched an intercontinental ballistic missile overnight targeting Dnipro city in the central-east. If Ukraine’s claims are true, then it’s the first time Russia has used such a missile in the war.

Ukraine’s air force did not specify the exact type of missile in its released statement on Thursday. However, Ukrainian media have claimed to have identified the type of missile used as RS-26 Rubezh, with a range of 5,800 km.

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The missile was launched from Russia’s Astrakhan region, said the statement.

An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) was fired at Dnipro city along with eight other missiles, it said. The military shot down six of them, it added.

Two people were injured in the attack. According to officials, an industrial facility, and a rehabilitation centre for people with disabilities were damaged.

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Meanwhile, western officials denied the Ukrainian claim that Russia fired an ICBM.

Russia’s attack comes two days after President Vladimir Putin signed a revised nuclear doctrine that formally lowers the threshold for the country’s use of nuclear weapons.

After the US’s nod, Ukraine on Tuesday fired several American-supplied longer-range missiles and reportedly fired UK-made Storm Shadows on Wednesday into Russia.

The Russian Defence Ministry said that its air defence systems shot down two British-made Storm Shadow missiles, six HIMARS rockets, and 67 drones.

The new developments on the war front came with the arrival of North Korean troops to help Russia on the battlefield.

Earlier, Putin warned the US and other NATO allies that allowing Ukraine to use Western-supplied longer-range weapons to hit Russian territory would mean that Russia and NATO are at war.

ICBMs were developed in the 1950s during the Cold War, as a way for the Soviet Union and the US to threaten each other’s populations directly with nuclear weapons.

Earlier, Kremlin spokesperson Dimtry Peskov said that Russia is committed to avoiding nuclear war, but the West has a responsibility not to engage in “provocative actions.”

“We have emphasised in the context of our nuclear doctrine that Russia takes a responsible position in terms of making maximum efforts to prevent such a [nuclear] conflict. We expect that other countries will also take the same responsible position and not engage in provocative actions,” he said.