Zelensky: Russian use of new missile a 'clear escalation'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that a Russian attack on Ukraine with a new type of ballistic missile was a "clear and severe escalation" in the war and called for strong worldwide condemnation.

"This is a clear and severe escalation in the scale and brutality of this war," Mr Zelensky wrote on X, referring to a strike on the central city of Dnipro.

"The use of a ballistic missile against Ukraine today is yet more proof that Russia has no interest in peace."

"The world must respond," he wrote. "Right now, there is no strong reaction from the world."

Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a television address, said Russia had responded to the use of US and British missiles by Kyiv by firing a new kind of hypersonic medium-range ballistic missile at a Ukrainian military facility.

In his comments on X, Mr Zelensky said Mr Putin's acknowledgement of the use of the new weapon was another escalation in the war, now more than 1,000 days old, after the deployment of North Korean troops on Russian soil.

"Putin is not only prolonging the war — he is spitting in the face of those in the world who genuinely want peace to be restored," he wrote.

"The world must respond. Right now, there is no strong reaction from the world...A lack of tough reactions to Russia's actions sends a message that such behavior is acceptable."

Intercontinental ballistic missiles are a weapon designed for long-distance nuclear strikes and have never before been used in war.

Three US officials said it was an intermediate range ballistic missile that has a smaller range.

In Moscow, Mr Putin said in a televised address that Russia launched a medium-range ballistic missile attack on a Ukrainian military facility in response to recent Ukrainian long-range strikes with Western weapons.

He said the West was escalating the conflict in Ukraine and that it was becoming a global conflict.

Ukraine fired US and British missiles at targets inside Russia this week despite warnings by the Russian government that it would see such action as a major escalation. Russia's ambassador in London said that Britain was now "directly involved" in the war in Ukraine.

Russia had conducted combat tests of the 'Oreshnik' (the hazel) hypersonic missile system in response to the aggressive actions of NATO countries against Russia, Mr Putin said.

"In response to the use of American and British long-range weapons, on 21 November of this year, the Russian armed forces launched a combined strike on one of the facilities of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine," he said.

"In combat conditions, one of the newest Russian medium-range missile systems was tested, among other things. In this case, with a ballistic missile in a nuclear-free hypersonic equipment."

Read More: What is the ICBM Ukraine says Russia fired?

Security experts said that if the Dnipro strike involved an intercontinental ballistic missile, it would be the first use of such a missile in war. ICBMs are strategic weapons designed to deliver nuclear warheads and are an important part of Russia's nuclear deterrent.

Intermediate-range ballistic missiles have a range of 3,000-5,500km.

Ukraine's foreign ministry urged the international community to react swiftly to the use of what it said was "the use by Russia of a new type of weaponry".

Ukraine's air force said the ICBM targeted Dnipro in central-eastern Ukraine and was fired from the Russian region of Astrakhan, more than 700km away.

"Whether it was an ICBM or an IRBM, the range isn't the important factor," said Fabian Hoffmann, a doctoral research fellow at Oslo university who specializes in missile technology and nuclear strategy.

"The fact that it carried a MIRVed (Multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle) payload is much more significant for signaling purposes and is the reason Russia opted for it. This payload is exclusively associated with nuclear-capable missiles."

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

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

Dnipro was a missile-making centre in the Soviet era. Ukraine has expanded its military industry during the war, but keeps its whereabouts secret.

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

Prior to Mr Putin's comments, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters to contact Russian military for comment when asked about the Ukrainian air force statement.

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 weigh 36 tonnes, according to the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). It said the RS-26 can carry an 800kg nuclear warhead.

The RS-26 is classified as an ICBM under a nuclear arms reduction treaty between the United States and Russia, but it can be seen as an intermediate-range ballistic missile when used with heavier payloads at ranges below 5,500 km, the CSIS said.

'Totally unprecedented'

A group of glowing projectiles could be seen plummeting to the ground from the night sky in a video published by Come Back Alive, a Ukrainian military charity. It said the video was of Dnipro overnight.

The NATO military alliance did not respond to a request for comment. The US European Command said it had nothing on the reported use of an ICBM and referred questions to the US Department of Defense.