Kyiv on Thursday accused Russia of launching a non-nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile at Ukraine in what would mark the first ever use of the weapon in combat and a sharp escalation of the conflict.
Ukraine said the nuclear-capable missile had targeted the central city of Dnipro, and while the Kremlin declined to confirm it had launched the strike, it said it was doing everything possible to avoid a nuclear escalation.
The Russian missile barrage on the industrial city, which authorities said had injured two people, is only the latest escalation since Ukraine fired Western-supplied long-range missiles on Russia this month.
The Ukrainian air force said in a statement that Russia had launched several types of missiles at Dnipro, targeting critical infrastructure, in the early hours of Thursday.
“In particular, an intercontinental ballistic missile was launched from the Astrakhan region of the Russian Federation,” the statement said.
A source in the Ukrainian air force confirmed to AFP it was the first time such a weapon had been used by Russia since it invaded in February 2022.
The source added it was “obvious” that the missile, which is designed to carry both conventional and nuclear warheads, did not carry a nuclear charge.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said experts were examining the strike to confirm an intercontinental ballistic missile had been fired by “our crazy neighbour”.
“It has all the characteristics — speed, altitude — of an intercontinental ballistic missile. It is obvious that Putin is using Ukraine as a testing ground,” he said on social media.
Asked whether Moscow fired the missile, which can hit targets thousands of kilometres away, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he had “nothing to say on this topic”.
He did however say the Kremlin was making a “maximum effort” to avoid a nuclear conflict, after it updated its nuclear doctrine this week.
The new policy allows Moscow to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear states and Russia said the move should be seen as a warning to the West.
“We have stressed in the context of our doctrine that Russia is taking a responsible position to make maximum effort not to allow such a conflict,” Peskov added Thursday.
While Moscow declined to comment on the attack, the Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman received a phone call during a live press briefing, in which she was ordered not to comment on reports of the ballistic strike, video showed.
“Masha,” an unknown male voice on the phone said, addressing spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. “On the Yuzhmash ballistic missile strike that the Westerners have started talking about, we are not commenting at all.”
Yuzhmash is the Russian name of an aerospace manufacturer in Dnipro — now called Pivdenmash — that produced missiles during the Soviet Union and is reported now to produce satellites.
Russian had earlier claimed to have struck the sprawling facility in September this year.
The EU said the attack, if confirmed, would mark a “clear escalation” by President Vladimir Putin.
“While we’re assessing the full facts it’s obvious that such (an) attack would mark yet another clear escalation from the side of Putin,” foreign affairs spokesman Peter Stano told reporters.
The UK meanwhile said the strike would be “reckless and escalatory”.
Ukrainian air defence units downed six missiles, the air force said, without elaborating on whether the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) was among those.
The head of the Dnipropetrovsk region where the city of Dnipro is located said the Russian aerial bombardment had damaged a rehabilitation centre and several homes, as well as an industrial enterprise.
“Two people were wounded — a 57-year-old man was treated on the scene and a 42-year-old woman was hospitalised,” said the official, Sergiy Lysak.
Fabian Hoffmann, a research fellow at the University of Oslo, who specialises in missile technology, said Russia could have used other types of missiles — or even drones — for such an attack.
“This is all about the political effect. This is not about the military value,” Hoffmann told AFP.
Russia and Ukraine have escalated their use of deadly long-range missiles over recent days since the United States gave permission to use its ATACMS against military targets inside Russia — a long-standing Ukrainian request.
British media meanwhile reported on Wednesday that Kyiv had launched UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles at targets in Russia after being given the green light from London.
The defence ministry in Moscow said on Thursday its air defence systems had downed two Storm Shadows, without saying whether they were downed on Russian territory or in occupied Ukraine.
The missile escalation is coming at a critical moment on the ground for Ukraine, as its defensive lines buckle under mounting Russian pressure across the sprawling front line.
Russia also on Thursday claimed deeper advances in the war-battered Donetsk region, announcing its forces had captured another village close to Kurakhove, closing in on the town after months of steady advances.
Moscow’s defence ministry said Russian forces had taken the small village of Dalne, five kilometres (three miles) south of Kurakhove.
Lysak, the governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, said that 26 people had been wounded in another strike on the town of Kryvyi Rig, where Zelensky was born.