Ukraine has claimed that Russia fired what appeared to be an intercontinental ballistic missile into the city of Dnipro on Thursday. Meanwhile, Russia has said that it is about "new missiles" with a medium range.
If Ukraine's accusation is confirmed, it would be the first time a weapon designed to carry out long-range nuclear attacks has been used in war.
Western officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that initial analysis showed it was not an intercontinental ballistic missile, although they left open the possibility that the epilogue could change.
Regardless of the missile's classification, the latest attack has highlighted rapidly rising tensions in the 33-month-old war.
Ukraine has fired US and British missiles at targets inside Russia this week, despite warnings from Moscow that it would see such a move as a major escalation.
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Ukrainian intelligence: Russia is preparing to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile
Security experts have said that if Thursday's attack involved an intercontinental ballistic missile, it would be the first use of such a missile in war. These are strategic weapons designed to deliver nuclear warheads and are an important part of Russia's nuclear deterrent.
"Today was a new Russian missile. All the characteristics - speed, altitude - are of an intercontinental ballistic missile. An investigation is currently underway," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video statement.
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry has asked the international community to react quickly to the use of what it said was "the use of a new type of weaponry".
The Ukrainian air force said the missile was fired from the Russian region of Astrakhan, more than 700 kilometers from Dnipro in east-central Ukraine. They did not specify what type of warhead the missile had or what type of missile it was.
Ukrainska Pravda, a Kiev-based media outlet, cited anonymous sources as saying the missile was an RS-26 Rubezh - a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of 5.800km, according to the US Arms Organization. Control Association".
The RS-26 was first successfully tested in 2012 and is estimated to be 12 meters long and weigh 36 tons, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). According to the Center, "RS-26" can carry a nuclear warhead of 800 kilograms.
The RS-26 is classified as an intercontinental ballistic missile under a nuclear arms reduction treaty between the United States and Russia, but can be seen as an intermediate-range ballistic missile when used with heavier payloads at ranges below 5.500km. CSIS reported.
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Putin warns that Russia will continue to test the new ballistic missile
Meanwhile, a few hours after the accusations from Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared that it is about "testing new missiles". He said the use of this was in response to permission given by the US and UK to Kiev to use long-range missiles inside Russia.
"In response to the use of long-range weaponry by the US and Britain on November 21 of this year, the Russian armed forces carried out a combined attack on one of the facilities of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine. "In combat conditions, a test of one of the latest medium-range missile systems was conducted, in this case, with a non-nuclear hypersonic version of a ballistic missile," Putin said.
Putin has declared that the war in Ukraine has reached global proportions. He stated that Russia has the right to use its weapons against the military installations of countries that use their weapons against Russian facilities. Putin has accused the US of destroying the global security system.
In his address, Putin said that Russia "is ready for any development". "Let no one doubt this. We will always have answers", he said.
For these missiles, Russia has said that they have capacities for speeds up to 10 times greater than the speed of sound - up to 3 kilometers per second.
Meanwhile, Hungarian Defense Minister Kristof Szalay-Bobrovnickzy has announced that his country will install an air defense system near the border with Ukraine, citing a "greater than ever" threat of an escalation in the Ukraine-Russia war.
"We still believe that there will be peace as soon as possible, through diplomacy instead of a military solution," Kristof Szalay-Bobrovniczky said in a video posted on Facebook late Wednesday.
His comments come after a meeting of Hungary's defense council was called by Prime Minister Viktor Orban to discuss developments in Ukraine.
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Poland has also put its warplanes on standby to defend its airspace during Russian attacks in Ukraine.
Poland has continuously put fighter jets on alert for Russian attacks in Ukraine since the war there began.
