Without real logic

Russia launches intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time

The target of the attack was Dnipro, not far from the areas already annexed by Russia - this range would definitely not require such a long-range missile (symbolic image).

(Bild: AFP)

According to Ukraine, Russia fired an intercontinental missile for the first time since the start of the war during its air strike on Thursday morning. There is no military logic for the attack with the long-range weapon. Russia claims to have intercepted cruise missiles in return.

"An intercontinental ballistic missile was launched from the Astrakhan region of the Russian Federation," the Ukrainian air force announced in a statement on Facebook. According to consistent media reports, this was the first use of such a weapon since the start of the war in February 2022. 

Hypersonic missile also flew at Ukraine
A nationwide air raid and missile alert was triggered in Ukraine on Thursday morning. According to the Ukrinform agency, a Russian "Kinschal" hypersonic missile hit the Dnipropetrovsk region. The missile was fired from a MiG-31 fighter jet. Shortly afterwards, the Ukrainian air defense warned on the Telegram platform of the possible arrival of several Ch-101 cruise missiles.

These missiles, equipped with stealth technology, were heading for the capital Kiev and Poltava in the east of the country, according to the air force command. Seven of them were shot down.

The target was critical infrastructure
The Russian attack came after Ukraine had attacked targets in Russia with US and British missiles for the first time in recent days. Companies and critical infrastructure in the central-eastern city of Dnipro were among the targets of the Russian attack, it was reported. According to the local authorities, an industrial company in Dnipro was damaged. Two fires also broke out in the city.

The mayor of Dnipro, Borys Filatov, wrote that a center for people with disabilities had also been damaged. So far there is no information about casualties.

Cannot be shot down
The intercontinental ballistic missile is said to be the Russian RS-26 "Rubezh" ("Border") model. Due to its speed and ability to quickly change its flight path, it could not be shot down by air defenses. The explosive charge was probably around 1200 kilograms. Normally, intercontinental missiles, which can fly several thousand kilometers, are used for more distant targets.

By using the missile on a relatively close target, which makes little sense from a military point of view and which could also be reached with other missiles, Russia is primarily taking a symbolic step. The Kremlin is probably underlining its threat to possibly use nuclear weapons against Ukraine and its supporters.

Russia claims to have taken Storm Shadow out of the sky
Russia claims to have intercepted two Storm Shadow cruise missiles fired by Ukraine. This was announced by the Ministry of Defense in Moscow. It would be the first confirmed use of these weapons supplied by the UK over Russia since the start of the war.

The previous day, British media had reported that Ukraine had fired the weapons at Russia for the first time. The government in Moscow has described the authorization for Ukraine to use Western weapons with a longer range against targets on Russian territory as an escalation.