Ukraine says Russia targeted the Dnipro with intercontinental missiles in the latest attack

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine says Russia fired an intercontinental ballistic missile overnight at the city of Dnipro in the central east of the country, which, if confirmed, would be the first time Moscow has used such a missile in the war.

In a statement Thursday on the Telegram messaging app, Ukraine’s air force did not specify the exact type of missile, but said it was launched from Russia’s Astrakhan region, which borders the Caspian Sea.

It said an intercontinental ballistic missile was fired at Dnipro city along with eight other missiles and that the Ukrainian military shot down six of them.

Two people were injured as a result of the attack, and an industrial plant and a rehabilitation center for people with disabilities were damaged, according to local officials.

Although the range of an ICBM would seem excessive for use against Ukraine, such missiles are designed to carry nuclear warheads, and the use of one would serve as a chilling reminder of Russia’s nuclear capabilities and a strong message of potential escalation.

The attack comes two days after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a revised nuclear doctrine that formally lowers the threshold for the country’s use of nuclear weapons. Ukraine fired several US-supplied longer-range missiles on Tuesday and reportedly fired UK-made Storm Shadows into Russia on Wednesday.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement Thursday that its air defense systems shot down two British-made Storm Shadow missiles, six HIMARS missiles and 67 drones. The announcement came in the ministry’s daily roundup regarding the military actions in Ukraine.

The statement did not say when or where exactly it happened, or what the missiles were aimed at. This is not Moscow’s first public announcement of the downing of Storm Shadow missiles, as Russia previously reported having shot down some over the annexed Crimean peninsula.

The development comes in line with the fact that the war has taken on a growing international dimension with the arrival of North Korean troops to help Russia on the battlefield — a development that US officials said prompted US President Joe Biden’s policy shift to allow Ukraine to launch longer-range US missiles into Russia. The Kremlin responded with threats to escalate further.

Putin has previously warned the US and other NATO allies that allowing Ukraine to use Western-supplied long-range weapons to strike Russian territory would mean Russia and NATO are at war.

And the new doctrine allows for a potential nuclear response by Moscow even to a conventional attack on Russia by any nation backed by a nuclear power.

Although the doctrine foresees a possible nuclear response by Russia to a conventional attack, it is worded broadly to avoid a firm commitment to use nuclear weapons and keep Putin’s options open.