Russia unleashed an experimental longer-range ballistic missile on the city of Dnipro in central Ukraine on Thursday in what President Vladimir Putin called a direct response to the U.S. and British moves to bolster Kyiv’s ability to bomb targets deeper inside Russia.
Ukrainian officials initially accused the Kremlin of firing an intercontinental ballistic missile at infrastructure targets. That would have marked the first time an ICBM had been deployed in a war against another nation. ICBMs can carry either conventional or nuclear payloads and have a range capable of hitting targets virtually anywhere.
Mr. Putin made clear that the introduction of the bomb was meant as a warning to Ukraine and its Western supporters. He said his forces had fired not an ICBM but a model of a Russian-made “intermediate-range ballistic missile,” or IRBM. U.S. officials said the Kremlin alerted them before the launch through established arms control channels.
Boasting that the experimental Oreshnik missile could defeat all Ukrainian and allied defense systems, Mr. Putin made clear that he was responding to decisions by the U.S. and British governments to give Ukraine free rein to use advanced Western weapons such as ATACMS, the U.S.-provided Army Tactical Missile System, to strike deeper behind Russian lines in eastern and southern Ukraine.
Russian commanders said the move would inevitably require U.S. and allied troops to help Ukraine more directly in the war.
“We believe that we have the right to use our weapons against military facilities of the countries that allow the use of their weapons against our facilities,” Mr. Putin said in a national address after the missile launch. “And in case of escalation of aggressive actions, we will respond resolutely in a mirror way.
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“I would recommend the ruling elites of the countries that are hatching plans to use their military contingents against Russia to seriously think about it,” Mr. Putin said.
Multiple flashes
The early morning barrage on Dnipro damaged an industrial site, a rehabilitation center for people with disabilities, two homes and nine garages, Ukrainian officials said. A video reportedly taken at the scene showed multiple flashes, apparently strikes from the warheads carried by the Russian IRBM.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had accused Russia of launching an ICBM based on data from his commanders.
”All the parameters — speed, altitude — match those of an intercontinental ballistic missile,” he said on his Telegram social messaging page.
He accused Mr. Putin of “using Ukraine as a testing ground. Putin is terrified when normal life simply exists next to him.”
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The Pentagon later confirmed that Russia had fired an IRBM at Ukraine based on its RS-26 Rubezh solid-fuel ICBM, designated by NATO as SS-X-31. The payload can hold several warheads for targets or the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle.
Like an ICBM, an IRBM can be fitted to carry a nuclear weapon.
The Pentagon confirmed Mr. Putin’s claim that Russia had notified the U.S. before firing the missile.
“The United States was pre-notified briefly before the launch through Nuclear Risk Reduction channels,” Defense Department spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters.
The capabilities of an IRBM and an ICBM are similar. The most significant difference is the range. An IRBM can strike targets up to 3,400 miles away, while an ICBM has a range of at least 6,000 miles.
Lower threshold
Mr. Putin recently signed off on a national strategic doctrine lowering the threshold for the use of Russian nuclear arms in the event of a crisis. He and his more hawkish aides have repeatedly suggested since the start of the Ukraine invasion in February 2022 that they were prepared to respond with a nuclear weapon if the U.S. and its allies intervened.
Ukraine and its allies have sharply condemned Russia’s recent deployment of more than 10,000 North Korean troops along the border region with Ukraine. They said it was another sign that Mr. Putin has no intention of dialing back his campaign to topple the government in Kyiv.
The Pentagon said they considered the IRBM launch an experimental exercise because the missile had never been fired in battle. Ukrainian air force officials said it was launched from Russia’s Astrakhan oblast and traveled about 460 miles before striking infrastructure targets in Dnipro. Russia also launched a Kh-47M2 “Kinzhal” ballistic missile using a MiG-31 fighter along with seven Kh-101 cruise missiles from a Tu-95 strategic bomber.
The attack and the initial Ukrainian claims that an ICBM had been fired set off a scramble in European capitals to find out what happened and to condemn Mr. Putin for the latest escalatory step in the war.
“While we’re assessing the full facts, it’s obvious that such [an] attack would mark yet another clear escalation from the side of Putin,” European Commission foreign affairs spokesman Peter Stano told reporters in Brussels.
Adding to the confusion, Moscow officials were initially tight-lipped about the ballistic missile launch. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, “Right now, I have nothing to say on this topic.” He referred all questions to Russian military officials.
In a strange turn of events, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova took a cellphone call during her regular morning briefing with reporters. A man’s voice could be heard telling her to “not comment at all” about “ballistic missile strikes.”
The latest Russian strategic doctrine holds that even an attack from a non-nuclear state, if supported by a nuclear power, can be treated as a joint assault on Russia and justify a nuclear response.
U.S. officials said they hadn’t seen any changes in Moscow’s nuclear stance.
“We haven’t seen any adjustments that we’ve observed in their nuclear posture, and we haven’t adjusted our nuclear posture in exchange,” Ms. Singh said.
The Biden administration said this week that it had agreed to supply Ukraine with anti-personnel land mines to help defend against Russian ground troops leading the offensive maneuvers in the east. The move has drawn fierce criticism from human rights and arms control groups because of the greater chances for civilian deaths and injuries.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed Wednesday that Ukraine would receive U.S.-made anti-personnel mines.
The Pentagon rejected claims that allowing Ukraine to strike targets inside Russia with U.S.-supplied firepower or providing anti-personnel mines was fueling the conflict and making a peace deal harder.
“What has been escalatory in this war is the fact that Russia decided to turn to a foreign country and bring those [North Korean] soldiers into the fight,” Ms. Singh said. “We’ve been very clear, publicly and privately to Russia, that we’re going to support Ukraine because a country doing that to its neighbors should not go unchecked.”
The ballistic missile struck on Ukraine’s Day of Dignity and Freedom, which commemorates the national protests that ousted pro-Russian governments.
“Putin is doing whatever it takes to prevent his neighbor from breaking free of his grasp,” Mr. Zelenskyy said. “I thank all Ukrainians who are defending Ukraine from this evil — unwaveringly, bravely, firmly [and] with dignity.”
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
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