Russia launched an intercontinental ballistic missile during an attack on Ukraine on Thursday, Kyiv’s air force said, in the first known use in the war of a powerful weapon designed to deliver nuclear strikes thousands of kilometres away.

The launch was the latest sign of rapidly mounting tensions in the 33-month-old war after Ukraine fired US and British missiles at targets inside Russia this week despite warnings by Moscow that it would see such action as a major escalation.

However, a US official told Reuters that Russia fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile, not an ICBM, during an attack on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Thursday, contradicting the official account from Ukraine. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the assessment was based on initial analysis.

Security experts said that, if confirmed, it would be the first military use of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) — strategic weapons designed to deliver nuclear warheads and are an important part of Russia’s nuclear deterrent.

The Ukrainians did not specify what kind of warhead the missile had or what type of missile it was. There was no suggestion it was nuclear-armed.

Russia did not immediately comment on the Ukrainian air force statement. Asked by reporters about the air force statement, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters to contact the Russian military for comment.

Ukrainska Pravda, a Kyiv-based media outlet, cited anonymous sources saying the missile was an RS-26 Rubezh, a solid-fuelled intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of 5,800 km, according to the Arms Control Association.

The RS-26 was first successfully tested in 2012, and is estimated to be 12 metres long and weighs 36 tons, according to the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). It said the RS-26 can carry an 800-kg nuclear warhead.

The Russian missile attack targeted enterprises and critical infrastructure in Dnipro, the air force said.

It did not say what the ICBM had targeted or whether it had caused any damage, but regional governor Serhiy Lysak said the missile attack caused damage to an industrial enterprise and set off fires in Dnipro. Two people were hurt.

Russia also fired a Kinzhal hypersonic missile and seven Kh-101 cruise missiles, six of which were shot down, the Ukrainian air force said.

“In particular, an intercontinental ballistic missile was launched from the Astrakhan region of the Russian Federation,” it said. Astrakhan is more than 700 km from the Ukrainian city of Dnipro.

Defence Express, a Ukrainian defence consultancy, asked whether the US, Kyiv’s main international ally,
had been informed about
the missile launch ahead of time.

“It is also a question of whether the United States was warned about the launch and its direction, as the announcement of such launches is a prerequisite for preventing the triggering of a missile warning system and the launch of missiles in response,” Defence Express wrote.

The Nato military alliance did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“If true this will be totally unprecedented and the first actual military use of ICBM. Not that it makes a lot of sense given their price and precision,” Andrey Baklitskiy of the UN Institute for Disarmament Research posted on X.

Reuters