Ukraine says Russia launched an intercontinental missile in an attack for the 1st time in the war

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine claimed Thursday that Russia launched an intercontinental ballistic missile overnight at a city. If confirmed, it would be the first time Moscow has used such a weapon in the war.

Ukraine did not provide any evidence that an ICBM was used in the attack on the central city of Dnipro, apparently armed with conventional warheads.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a missile used “matches the speed and altitude” of an ICBM. The Kremlin refused to comment on the strike.

The attack comes in a week when tensions have repeatedly soared, as the U.S. eased restrictions on Ukraine’s use of American-made longer-range missiles inside Russia and the Kremlin lowered its threshold for launching nuclear weapons.

The range of an ICBM — which can exceed 5,500 kilometers (3,400 miles) — is beyond what is needed to attack Ukraine. But such missiles are designed to carry atomic warheads, and the use of one, even with a conventional payload, would serve as a chilling reminder of Russia’s nuclear capability and a powerful message of potential escalation.

In a statement Thursday on the Telegram messaging app, Ukraine’s air force said an intercontinental ballistic missile was fired at Dnipro, along with eight other missiles, and that the Ukrainian military shot down six of them.

Two people were wounded in the attack, and an industrial facility and a rehabilitation center for people with disabilities were damaged, according to local officials.

The air force statement did not specify the exact type of ICBM but said it was launched from Russia’s Astrakhan region, on the Caspian Sea.

“Today, our crazy neighbor once again showed what he really is,” Zelenskyy said. “And how afraid he is.”

U.K. officials did not immediately confirm what kind of missile Russia had fired. Defense Secretary John Healey said there were “unconfirmed reports … of Russia firing a new ballistic missile into Ukraine, which we know they have been preparing for months.”

Ballistic missiles can have a range of anywhere from under 500 kilometers (310 miles) to over 5,500 kilometers (3,400 miles) in the case of intercontinental ones. “Ballistic” refers to the shape of their trajectory.

Since the Cold War era, Moscow and Washington have given each other advance notice about ICBM launches to prevent the other side from perceiving a test launch as a nuclear attack.

They have stuck to exchanging such warnings despite increasing tensions — which ratcheted up again in recent days.

Earlier this week, the Biden administration authorized Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied, longer-range missiles to strike deeper inside Russia — a move that drew an angry response from Moscow.

Days later, Ukraine fired several of the missiles into Russia, according to the Kremlin. The same day, President Vladimir Putin signed a new doctrine that allows for a potential nuclear response even to a conventional attack on Russia by any nation that is supported by a nuclear power.

The doctrine is formulated broadly to avoid a firm commitment to use nuclear weapons. In response, Western countries, including the U.S., said Russia has used irresponsible nuclear rhetoric and behavior throughout the war to intimidate Ukraine and other nations.

They have also expressed dismay at the deployment of thousands of North Korean troops to Russia to fight against Ukraine.

Also, Thursday, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that its air defense systems shot down two British-made Storm Shadow missiles, six HIMARS rockets, and 67 drones.

The statement didn’t say when or where the Storm Shadows were shot down or what they were targeting. Russia earlier reported downing some of the missiles over the illegally annexed Crimean Peninsula.