Nov. 21 (UPI) — Ukraine said Russia fired an intercontinental ballistic missile on Thursday morning, marking the first time a nuclear weapon compatible with the one used in the 1,000-day war has been launched.
Kyiv’s air force said in a statement on Telegram that an ICBM was launched from Russia’s Astrakhan region in an attack on the central-eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro.
It was fired between 5 am and 7 am local time. The attack included seven missiles launched from strategic bombers and an aeroballistic weapon fired from a MiG-31k fighter jet.
Six cruise missiles were destroyed by air strikes, the Ukrainian air force said. No one was injured or damage caused in the attack has not been described.
ICBMs have a range of thousands of miles and can be equipped with both nuclear and conventional weapons.
The use of ICBMs by Russia follows the news that Ukraine fired missiles at the US and Britain this week after the President of the United States, Mr. Joe Biden, gave Ukraine the green light to use Army Tactical Missile Systems to attack deep in Russian territory.
Mr. Biden has been reluctant to sign off on Ukraine using ATACMS to attack deep inside Russian territory for fear of escalating the war.
The ATACMS was first used in theater Tuesday, according to Russia. Ukraine this week also fired missiles manufactured by the British Storm Shadow, The Guardian reported, citing unnamed sources.