Russia fired an intercontinental ballistic missile in Ukraine for the first time on Thursdayannounced the Ukrainian army, in the latest escalation in the conflict since kyiv launched long-range missiles supplied by Western powers against Russia.
“An intercontinental ballistic missile was fired from the Russian region of Astrakhan” in an attack against the city of Dniproin the central east of Ukraine, the air force indicated in a statement. It is the first time that Moscow uses this type of weapons since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, he confirmed to AFP an army source. The Kremlin declined to comment on these allegations.
Ukrainska Pravdaa kyiv-based media outlet, cited anonymous sources claiming that the missile was an RS-26 Rubezha solid-fuel ICBM with a range of 5,800 km, according to the Arms Control Association.
The RS-26 was first successfully tested in 2012and is estimated to be 12 meters long and weigh 36 tons, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). The RS-26 can carry an 800 kg nuclear warhead.
The Ukrainian air force source said that It was “obvious” that the weapon did not carry a nuclear warhead.
The Ukrainian Air Force reported that the attack took place between 5:00 and 7:00 in the morning. In addition to the intercontinental ballistic missile, In the attack, Russia also launched a Kh-47M2 Kinzhal hypersonic missile and seven Kh-101 cruise missiles.
Ukrainian air defenses shot down six cruise missilesbut they could not intercept the intercontinental ballistic missile or the Kinzhal missile, considered the most advanced in the Russian arsenal.
Officials of the region of Dnipropetrovsk confirmed damage to industrial facilitiesalthough initially no victims were reported.
The attack occurs in a context of diplomatic escalation, a day after the United States, Spain, Italy and Greece closed their embassies in kyiv due to the threat of a possible massive Russian attack.
Los intercontinental ballistic missiless, capable of traveling thousands of kilometers and transporting conventional or nuclear loads, represent a new level of aggressiveness in the conflict that began in February 2022.
In parallel, the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed to have shot down two British Storm Shadow missilesa day after British media reported the first use of these weapons by Ukraine against Russian territory.
The Kremlin declined to comment on the alleged ICBM launch. However, the presidential spokesman Dmitri Peskov declared that Russia is carrying out “maximum efforts” to avoid a nuclear conflictamid the nuclear threats launched by the Russian president Vladimir Putin following Washington’s authorization for Ukraine to use long-range missiles against Russian targets.
Pskov also described “new climb” the Ukrainian attacks carried out this week against targets in Russian territory with long-range Western-made missiles, blaming the outgoing US administration for “continue fueling the conflict.”
