Key Points
- Russia has fired an experimental ballistic missile at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called the launch a clear escalation from Russia.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that conflict in Ukraine has “acquired elements of a global character”.
Russia says it fired a hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro in response to the United States and United Kingdom allowing Kyiv to strike Russian territory with advanced Western weapons.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a televised address on Thursday (local time), said Moscow struck a Ukrainian military facility with a new ballistic missile known as “Oreshnik” (the hazel) and warned that more could follow.
“A regional conflict in Ukraine previously provoked by the West has acquired elements of a global character,” Putin said in an address to the nation carried by state television.
A US official said that Washington was notified by Russia shortly before its strike, while another said they had briefed Kyiv and other close allies in recent days to prepare for the possible use of such a weapon.
Earlier on Thursday, Ukraine said that Russia had fired an intercontinental ballistic missile, a weapon designed for long-distance nuclear strikes and never before used in war, though US officials said it was an intermediate-range ballistic missile that has a smaller range.
Regardless of its classification, the latest strike highlights rapidly rising tensions in the past several days.
Ukraine fired US and British missiles at targets inside Russia this week, despite warnings by Russia that it would see such action as a major escalation.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy calls launch ‘clear escalation’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday that Russia’s use of the missile was a “clear and severe escalation” in the war and called for strong worldwide condemnation.
“This is a clear and severe escalation in the scale and brutality of this war,” Zelenskyy wrote on X.
“The use of a ballistic missile against Ukraine today is yet more proof that Russia has no interest in peace.”
“The world must respond,” he wrote. “Right now, there is no strong reaction from the world.”
Ukraine’s foreign ministry urged the international community to react swiftly to the use of what it said was “the use by Russia of a new type of weaponry.”
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Russia likely possesses a handful of the “experimental” intermediate-range ballistic missiles used in Thursday’s strike.
Ukraine’s air force said the missile targeted Dnipro in central-eastern Ukraine and was fired from the Russian region of Astrakhan, more than 700km away.
Damage from Russia’s missile strike in Dnipro. Source: AAP / Mykola Miakshykov/Ukrinform/Sipa USA
It did not specify what kind of warhead the missile had or what type of missile it was. There was no suggestion it was nuclear-armed.
Intermediate-range ballistic missiles have a range of 3,000–5,500km.
“Whether it was an ICBM or an IRBM, the range isn’t the important factor,” said Fabian Hoffmann, a doctoral research fellow at Oslo University who specialises in missile technology and nuclear strategy.
“The fact that it carried a MIRVed (Multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle) payload is much more significant for signalling purposes and is the reason Russia opted for it. This payload is exclusively associated with nuclear-capable missiles.”
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 attack targeted enterprises and critical infrastructure in Dnipro, the air force said.
In a photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Services, rescue workers put out the fire in a burning house damaged by a Russian strike on Dnipro. Source: AAP, AP / Ukrainian Emergency Service
Dnipro was a missile-making centre in the Soviet era. Ukraine has expanded its military industry during the war, but keeps its whereabouts secret.
The air force did not say what the missile targeted or whether it had caused any damage, but regional governor Serhiy Lysak said the missile attack damaged an industrial enterprise and set off fires in Dnipro.
Two people were hurt.
Ukraine fires British and American missiles at Russia
Some military experts said Russia’s missile launch could be seen as an act of deterrence following Ukrainian strikes into Russia with Western weapons this week, after restrictions on such strikes were lifted.
Russia’s defence ministry, in its daily report of events over the previous 24 hours on Thursday, said air defences had shot down two British Storm Shadow cruise missiles, but did not say where
Britain had previously let Ukraine use Storm Shadows only within Ukrainian territory.
Ukraine also fired US ATACMS missiles into Russia on Tuesday after to use such missiles in this way.
Putin on Tuesday lowered the threshold for a nuclear strike in response to a broader range of conventional attacks.
Russia has said the use of Western weapons to strike Russian territory far from the border would be a major escalation in the conflict.
Ukraine says it needs the capability to defend itself by hitting Russian rear bases used to support Moscow’s February 2022 invasion.
