Russia's Thursday strike on Ukraine was not an ICBM, but an "experimental" medium-range ballistic missile, a US official said Thursday, playing down the significance of the attack.
"Russia may be seeking to use this capability to try to intimidate Ukraine and its supporters... but it will not be a game changer in this conflict," the US official said.
Ukraine accused Russia on Thursday of having launched a nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) as part of a barrage on the central city of Dnipro.
Ukraine said in a statement: "The assault included an ICBM launched from Russia’s Astrakhan region, a Kh-47M2 Kinzhal aeroballistic missile fired from a MiG-31K jet in the Tambov region, and seven Kh-101 cruise missiles launched by Tu-95MS bombers near the Volgograd region.”
The weapon appears to have been a shorter-range ballistic missile (SRBM), as opposed to an ICBM, the US official said.
The US official said the missile used in the strike was not an ICBM but an "experimental medium-range ballistic missile" and Russia "likely possesses only a handful of these experimental missiles."
The Russian president acknowledged in a television address to the nation that Moscow had struck a Ukrainian military facility with a new ballistic missile and said it was called “Oreshnik” (the hazel).
Moscow said it targeted a missile and defence firm in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, where missile and space rocket company Pivdenmash, known as Yuzhmash by Russians, is based.
Putin said Russia was developing short- and medium-range missiles in response to the planned production and then deployment by the US of medium- and shorter-range missiles in Europe and Asia.
“I believe that the United States made a mistake by unilaterally destroying the treaty on the elimination of intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles in 2019 under a far-fetched pretext,” the Russian president said, referring to the intermediate-range nuclear forces (INF) treaty.
The US formally withdrew from the 1987 (INF) treaty with Russia in 2019 after saying that Moscow was violating the accord, an accusation the Kremlin denied.
On Thursday, Russia said it has the right to strike countries providing weapons used by Ukraine to target Russia territory, including the UK and US.
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.
Local authorities in Dnipro said an infrastructure facility was hit and two civilians were wounded.
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