Ukraine says Russia attacked with intercontinental ballistic missile, Western official disputes claim

For the first time in more than two years of war, Ukraine said that Russia has attacked it with an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

The claim of Russian usage of powerful, long-rage ICBM comes after escalation in the ongoing war. After Russia roped in as many as 10,000 soldiers from North Korea in its war on Ukraine, the United States and United Kingdom allowed Ukraine to launch their long-range weapons for strikes inside Russia .

The Ukrainian air force on Thursday said Russia attacked enterprises and critical infrastructure in the central-eastern city of Dnipro with the ICBM. It said the missile was launched from Russia’s Astrakhan region.

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While Ukraine did not confirm the type of ICBM used, it said that the missile had a conventional warhead and not a nuclear warhead.

Meanwhile, a Western official told ABC News that while the missile was a ballistic missile, it does not appear to be an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

The ICBMs are very powerful long-range missiles that are very hard to intercept. They have a range of more than 3,500 miles (5,600 km). Only the United States, China, and Russia formally acknowledge having ICBMs. They can carry both conventional and nuclear warheads.

There are other types of ballistic missiles as well of lower range and threshold than ICBMs, such as short-range (SRBMs) with 300 miles (480 km) range, medium-range (MRBMs) with 300-600 miles (480-965 km), intermediate-range (IRBMs) with 600-3,300 miles (965-5,310 km), according to Britannica Encyclopaedia.

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The Ukrainian air force further said that the Russian barrage also included Kh-47M2 ‘Kinzhal’ missile fired from a MiG-31K fighter jet in the Tambov region and seven Kh-101 cruise missiles launched from Tu-95MS strategic bombers, of which six Kh-101 missiles were successfully intercepted, according to Newsweek.

It did not say the damage that the ICBM caused or the specific location it struck. It also did not specify the type of ICBM used.

The conflict in Ukraine has escalated in recent days . Following US and British permissions, Ukraine has resorted to firing US-made ATACMS and British-French Storm Shadow missiles inside Russia.

Russia on Tuesday approved a new nuclear weapons doctrine that allows for a nuclear attack even in case of a conventional attack. It also treats an attack aided by a nuclear power as a joint attack and makes it eligible for a response by a nuclear weapon. Previously, Russia had said that the usage of Western long-range weapons for strikes inside Russia would put the Nato at war with Ukraine .