Russian President Vladimir Putin said his military fired a new intermediate-range missile into Ukraine following accusations by Kyiv that it was an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
An intercontinental ballistic missile was launched from Russia’s Astrakhan Oblast, a Kh-47M2 Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missile was fired from a MiG-31K fighter jet from Tambov Oblast and seven Kh-101 cruise missiles were launched from Tu-95MS strategic bombers (in Volgograd Oblast) according to Ukraine media.
“As a result of the combat efforts, Air Force anti-aircraft missile units destroyed six Kh-101 missiles. The other missiles did not cause any significant damage,” Ukrainian sources reported.
In a November 21 video statement to the nation, Putin said the use of the new weapon was a response to the United States and United Kingdom giving permission to Kyiv to fire their long-range missiles into Russia.
“In combat conditions, one of the newest Russian medium-range missile systems was tested,” Putin said, adding that it was a hypersonic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.
Earlier in the day, Kyiv said Russia had fired what appeared to be an ICBM into Ukraine as part of a massive missile attack on Dnipropetrovsk, home to important military-industrial plants. ICBMs, which are designed to deliver long-distance nuclear strikes, have never been used in war before.
“On the morning of November 21, 2024…Russian troops attacked the city of Dnipro (facilities and critical infrastructure) with missiles of various types. In particular, an intercontinental ballistic missile was launched from the Astrakhan region of the Russian Federation,” the Ukrainian Air Force said in its statement on Telegram.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Telegram that the new Russian weapon had “all characteristics — speed, altitude — [of an] intercontinental ballistic missile.”
A U.S. official speaking on the condition of anonymity told Reuters that Russia used a new intermediate weapon. The U.S. official said Washington had informed Kyiv in recent days that Russia might use it to strike Ukraine.
The U.S. official said Putin was seeking to intimidate Ukraine but added that Moscow only had a few of the “experimental” missiles.
The Russian attack comes just days after reports that Ukraine used British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles and U.S.-made ATACMS systems to strike military targets deeper inside Russia following the long-sought approval by President Joe Biden.
Military analysts said ICBM missiles can be classified as intermediate-range weapons when their payloads are increased and ranges decreased.
French Foreign Ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine said the use of an ICBM would be “extremely serious.”
The main target of the Russian attack was the southeastern region of Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine’s most important industrial region, and its capital, the city of Dnipro.
Ukraine’s air force said that besides the ICBM, Russian aircraft also launched a hypersonic Kh-47M2 Kinzhal missile and seven subsonic Kh-101 cruise missiles.
Ukrainian air defenses shot down six Kh-101 missiles, the air force reported.
Dnipropetrovsk Governor Serhiy Lysak said his region bore the brunt of the Russian attack.
“Since early in the morning, the aggressor massively attacked our region,” Lysak reported on Telegram, adding that preliminary information showed that an industrial facility was damaged in the regional capital, Dnipro, where two fires were started by the attack.
Explosions were also reported in Kremenchuk, in the central Poltava region.
Moscow’s use of a large number of sophisticated missiles as opposed to the usual drone attacks appears to be in response to Ukraine’s gaining approval to use some Western-donated long-range missile systems to strike deeper into Russia.
On November 20, Russian military bloggers and a source cited by Reuters reported that Ukraine had fired up to 12 Franco-British Storm Shadow missiles into Russia’s Kursk region, part of which has been under Ukrainian control following a surprise incursion by Ukrainian troops in August.
Earlier this week, Ukraine reportedly used ATACMS to strike a military facility in Russia’s Bryansk region after Biden was reported as giving his OK. The White House has not officially confirmed the approval and Ukraine hasn’t directly acknowledged the use of ATACMS on Russian targets.
Russia has long warned that Ukraine’s use Western-supplied long-range weapons to strike inside its territory would mark a serious escalation of the conflict.
On November 21, Moscow said a new U.S. missile defence base in the Polish town of Redzikowo near the Baltic coast, which was opened on November 13 as part of a broader NATO missile shield, will lead to an increase in the overall level of nuclear danger.
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