KYIV, (Ukraine): Ukraine on Thursday accused Russia of having deployed a ballistic missile designed to carry nuclear warheads for the first time in history which, if confirmed, would be a major escalation of the war.
Ukrainian allies have yet to confirm initial assessments from Kyiv’s military that Russia had launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
The Kremlin has not denied it used the weapon, which can strike targets from a distance of thousands of kilometres, spokesman Dmitri Peskov refusing to comment when questioned.
The Ukrainian air force said Moscow had launched the nuclear-capable missile as part of a barrage towards the central city of Dnipro, where local authorities said an infrastructure facility was hit and two civilians were wounded. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said experts were examining evidence before confirming an intercontinental ballistic missile had been fired by “our crazy neighbour”.
He said that the attack bore “all the characteristics” of an ICBM attack and accused the Kremlin of “using Ukraine as a testing ground”. Ukraine’s foreign ministry spokesman said analysts were preparing their “expert conclusions” while adding that the attack bore “all flight characteristics of an ICBM”.
“The strike itself proves: Russia does not seek peace. To the contrary, it makes every effort to expand the war,” spokesman Georgiy Tykhy said in a statement on social media.
The attack on Dnipro comes just days after several foreign embassies shuttered temporarily in the Ukrainian capital, citing the threat of a large-scale strike.
Tension has been building between Moscow and Kyiv’s allies in the West since Ukrainian forces struck Russian territory with Western-supplied long-range weapons on Tuesday after getting the green light from Washington.
Asked whether Moscow had fired an ICBM, Kremlin spokesman Peskov said he had “nothing to say on this topic”.
He did however say the Kremlin was doing everything to avoid a nuclear conflict, having updated its nuclear doctrine this week.
“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 said.
Russia’s 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.
Yuzhmash is the Russian name of an aerospace manufacturer — now called Pivdenmash — in Dnipro that produced missiles during the Soviet era and is reported now to make satellites. Russia claimed to have struck the facility in September this year. Western countries reacted with alarm.
“While we’re assessing the full facts it’s obvious that such (an) attack would mark yet another clear escalation from the side of (Vladimir) Putin,” European Union foreign affairs spokesman Peter Stano told reporters.
The United Kingdom said the strike would be “reckless and escalatory” if confirmed. France said it would represent an “extremely serious” incident.
Ukraine’s air force said it had downed missiles launched on the industrial city, without elaborating on whether the alleged intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) was among those downed.
The head of the Dnipropetrovsk region where the city of Dnipro is located said the Russian aerial bombardment 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 had nothing to gain militarily by using an ICBM in 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 long-range missiles in recent days since the Washington gave Kyiv permission to use its Army Tactical Missile System (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 Thursday its air-defence systems had downed two Storm Shadows, without saying whether they had come down 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 Russian pressure across the sprawling front line.
Russia claimed deeper advances in the war-battered Donetsk region, announcing on Thursday that 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.
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