CONFLICT
Rusland vuurt intercontinentale ballistische raket af op Oekraïne, zegt Kiev
November 21, 2024 - Russia has fired an intercontinental ballistic missile during an attack on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, Kyiv’s air force says, in what would be the first use in war of a weapon designed to deliver long-distance nuclear strikes.
Russia’s alleged launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) comes after Ukraine fired U.S.-made long-range ATACMS missiles and British Storm Shadows at Russian territory in recent days.
The Ukrainian air force said the ICBM was fired from the Russian region of Astrakhan. There was no suggestion it was nuclear-armed.
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 5,800km, according to the Arms Control Association.
But an unnamed U.S. official says the missile was a ballistic missile but not an ICBM, CBS News reports.
Some analysts dispute the classification of RS-26 as an intercontinental missile, arguing that, because it has a shorter range than most ICBMs, it sits in a grey area between that designation and an intermediate-range missile, the Financial Times reports.