“Vladimir Putin, Russia’s President, confirmed in a recent national address that his military launched a new medium-range missile into Ukraine. This incident occurred amidst allegations from Kyiv that the missile was, in fact, an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The Russian leader justified the action as a retaliation to the US and UK’s approval for Kyiv to fire their long-range weapons into Russia.
Putin, during his November 21 video announcement, described the missile as a cutting-edge, medium-range system which has been tested under combat conditions. He further revealed it to be a hypersonic, ballistic missile with the capacity to carry a nuclear warhead.
Earlier that day, Ukraine’s capital city, Kyiv, reported being hit by what they believed to be an ICBM from Russia. This new weapon was allegedly part of a larger missile attack on Dnipropetrovsk, a region housing significant military-industrial facilities. It’s worth noting that ICBMs, designed for long-distance nuclear strikes, have no previous history of wartime usage.
The Ukrainian Air Force issued a statement on Telegram, stating that various types of missiles, including an ICBM, attacked the city of Dnipro and its critical infrastructure on the morning of November 21, 2024. The ICBM was allegedly launched from the Astrakhan region in Russia.
Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, later confirmed on Telegram that the new Russian weapon bore all characteristics of an ICBM, including speed and altitude.
Sabrina Singh, a spokeswoman for the Pentagon, revealed that Ukraine was struck with an “experimental” intermediate-range ballistic missile from Russia, based on its RS-26 Rubezh ICBM. She added that Russia had previously informed the United States about the missile launch through “nuclear risk reduction channels.”
The attack was seen as an intimidation tactic by Putin, as confirmed by an anonymous US official. The official also revealed that Russia only had a few of these “experimental” missiles.
This latest attack comes on the heels of reports that Ukraine utilized British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles and US-made ATACMS systems to strike military targets within Russia, an action approved by US President Joe Biden.
The RS-26 Rubezh, a solid-fueled, road-mobile ICBM, currently under development, has been tested with heavier payloads at intermediate ranges. Military analysts suggest that ICBMs can be classified as intermediate-range weapons when their payloads are increased and ranges decreased.
The primary target of the Russian attack was Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine’s most significant industrial region, and its capital, the city of Dnipro. The Ukrainian air force reported that Russian aircraft also launched a hypersonic Kh-47M2 Kinzhal missile and seven subsonic Kh-101 cruise missiles, six of which were intercepted and neutralized.
The governor of Dnipropetrovsk, Serhiy Lysak, reported that his region suffered the most from the Russian attack. He confirmed that the assault resulted in significant damage to an industrial facility in Dnipro, causing two fires.
The use of a large number of sophisticated missiles by Moscow, as opposed to the usual drone attacks, is seen as a response to Ukraine’s recent approval to use Western-donated long-range missile systems to strike deeper into Russia.”