Russia reportedly launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) for the first time since the Ukraine war began, according to Ukrainian military officials on Thursday.
However, Western officials later disputed the claim, stating that Russia’s overnight attacks on Ukraine utilized only ballistic missiles, according to media reports.
Ukraine’s General Staff alleged that the ICBM was launched from Russia’s Astrakhan region, approximately 650 kilometers (403 miles) east of the Ukrainian border. This alleged launch coincided with a missile strike on the city of Dnipro in eastern Ukraine, where air defense systems intercepted six rockets. Local authorities reported that a rehabilitation center for people with disabilities was damaged in the attack.
The Ukrainian military did not clarify whether its air defense systems intercepted the reported ICBM and provided no further details. The Moscow Times was unable to independently verify the claims, and Russia’s Defense Ministry did not comment on the alleged launch.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov deferred questions about the incident to Russia’s military. In a separate event, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova interrupted a briefing to take a phone call, during which an unidentified man instructed her to “not comment at all” about “ballistic missile strikes.”
An unnamed Western official told ABC News that the strikes on Ukraine did not involve an ICBM, asserting that only standard ballistic missiles were used. While ICBMs are designed primarily to carry nuclear warheads, they can also be equipped with conventional, chemical, or biological payloads.
The Astrakhan region, home to Russia’s Kaputsin Yar military training area and rocket launch site, has historically been used for missile testing since the Cold War.
The reported ICBM launch follows President Vladimir Putin’s recent decision to lower Russia’s threshold for using nuclear weapons, a move seen as a response to the U.S. allowing Ukraine to target Russian territory with long-range weapons it supplied.
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