Russia fires intercontinental ballistic missiles in attack on Ukraine, Kiev says

By Anastasiia Malenko, Tom Balmforth and Max Hunder

KYIV (Reuters) -Russia launched an intercontinental ballistic missile in an attack on Ukraine on Thursday, Kyiv’s air force said, the first known use in the war of a powerful weapon designed to carry out nuclear strikes from thousands of kilometers away.

The launch was the latest sign of rapidly rising tensions in the 33-month war, after Ukraine fired US and British missiles at targets in Russia this week, despite warnings from Moscow that it would consider such a move a major escalation.

Security experts said that, if confirmed, this would be the first military use of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) – strategic weapons designed to deliver nuclear warheads and are a key part of Russia’s nuclear deterrent.

The Ukrainians did not specify what kind of warhead the missile had or what type of missile it was. There was no suggestion that it was nuclear armed.

Russia did not immediately comment on the Ukrainian air force’s statement. Asked by reporters about the air force’s statement, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters to contact the Russian military for comment.

Ukrainska Pravda, a Kiev-based media outlet, quoted anonymous sources as saying the missile was an RS-26 Rubezh, a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of 5,800 km, according to the Arms Control Association.

The RS-26 was first successfully tested in 2012 and is estimated to be 40 feet long and weigh 36 tons, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). It said the RS-26 can carry an 800 kg (1,765 lb) warhead.

The Russian missile attack targeted businesses and critical infrastructure in the central-eastern city of Dnipro, the air force said.

The air force did not say what the ICBM targeted or whether it had caused any damage, but regional governor Serhiy Lysak said the missile attack caused damage to an industrial enterprise and started fires in Dnipro. Two people were injured.

Russia also fired a Kinzhal hypersonic missile and seven Kh-101 cruise missiles, six of which were shot down, the Ukrainian air force said.

“In particular, an intercontinental ballistic missile was launched from the Astrakhan region of the Russian Federation,” the report said.

Astrakhan is located more than 700 km from the Ukrainian city of Dnipro.

‘VERY UNPARALLELED’

Defense Express, a Ukrainian defense consultancy, asked whether the United States, Kiev’s main international ally, had been informed in advance of the missile launch.

“It is also questionable whether the United States was warned of the launch and its direction, as the announcement of such launches is a prerequisite to prevent the activation of a missile warning system and the launch of missiles in response,” Defense Express wrote . .

The NATO military alliance did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“If true, this will be completely unprecedented and the first actual military use of ICBM. Not that it makes much sense given its price and accuracy,” wrote Andrey Baklitskiy of the UN Institute for Disarmament Research on X.

German security expert Ulrich Kuehn wrote: “It appears that today, for the first time in history, Russia used an intercontinental ballistic missile in a war against the civilian target Dnipro.”

Russian war correspondents on Telegram and an official who spoke on condition of anonymity said Kiev fired British Storm Shadow cruise missiles into Russia’s Kursk region, bordering Ukraine, on Wednesday.

A spokesman for the Ukrainian General Staff said he had no information and the extent of damage caused was not clear.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Thursday in its daily report of events over the past 24 hours that air defenses had shot down two British Storm Shadow cruise missiles.

Ukraine fired American ATACMS missiles at Russia on Tuesday after US President Joe Biden authorized the use of such missiles, two months before he leaves office and Donald Trump returns to the White House. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday lowered the threshold for a nuclear attack in response to a wider range of conventional attacks.

Trump has said he will end the war, without saying how, and criticized the billions of dollars in aid for Ukraine under Biden. The warring sides believe that Trump is likely to push for peace talks – which are not known to have taken place since the first months of the war – and try to gain strong positions before the negotiations.

Moscow has repeatedly said that using Western weapons to attack Russian territory far from the border would represent a major escalation of the conflict. Kiev says it needs the ability to defend itself by hitting Russian rear bases used to support Moscow’s invasion.

(Reporting by Anastasiia Malenko and Tom Balmforth, additional reporting by Mark Trevelyan, editing by Bernadette Baum and Timothy Heritage)