Putin says Russia fired 'test' ballistic missile at Ukraine

Moscow also says a US base in Poland now 'a priority target'

- ALEX CROFT

Vladimir Putin has claimed Moscow launched a new hypersonic ballistic missile against Ukraine in response to strikes by Kyiv inside Russia using UK and US long-range missiles.

The Russian leader said the Oreshnik, or Hazel, medium-range missile had been used in some of its latest strikes. Earlier, Ukraine’s air force said Russia had fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in an attack on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro – the first recorded use of the weapon during the war.

Ukrainian air defence forces said the missile – which has a range of more than 3,400 miles and can be used to carry nuclear warheads – was fired from Russia’s Astrakhan region, on the Caspian Sea. However, American officials said an initial US assessment indicated the strike was carried out with an intermediate-range ballistic missile which cannot travel so far, something backed by Putin’s remarks.

“In combat conditions, a test was carried out of one of the latest Russian intermediate-range missile systems,” Putin said.

The incident comes amid fast-rising tensions between the West and Russia, after Ukraine fired both British Storm Shadow missiles and American ATACMS missiles into Russia after being granted permission to do so this week.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky claimed the missile fired yesterday “matches the speed and altitude” of an ICBM, adding that Kyiv’s “crazy neighbour once again showed what he really is, and how afraid he is”.