Security cameras caught warheads from a Russian intercontinental ballistic missile or advanced long-range rocket raining down over Ukraine this morning in the city of Dnipro where the manufacturing plants of state-owned aerospace and defence company Yuzmash are located.
The ferocity, speed and coordinated nature of the salvos suggested the explosions were caused by MIRVs (multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles) carrying conventional explosives.
Such a punishing attack is seen as a retaliation by  Moscow less than 24 hours after Ukraine reportedly struck targets in Russia’s Kursk region with British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles – though British Defence Secretary John Healey refused to acknowledge those claims.
Russian authorities have thus far refused to comment, but if an ICBM strike is confirmed it would be the first time such a weapon has ever been deployed in combat, representing a major escalation in the conflict.
Volodymyr Zelensky said the speed and altitude at which the missile flew suggested it was indeed a nuclear-capable ICBM and said experts were investigating the strike to try and identify the exact weapon used.
‘Expert examinations are underway. It is obvious that Putin is using Ukraine as a testing ground,’ Zelensky said in a video posted on social media.
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But some analysts expressed incredulity over reports of a fully-fledged ICBM being deployed.
They argued that the reported range of the strike fell short of what would typically be expected of an intercontinental missile, adding that Moscow would have had to warn Washington to avoid triggering early warning systems and a possible response.
Footage of the alleged ICBM strike emerged as Russia also threatened to strike US air bases in Poland with ‘advanced weapons’ in an alarming statement Thursday morning.
