Russia hit Ukraine with new mid-range ballistic missile, Putin says

The “experimental” Russian ballistic missile fired at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro carried multiple warheads, according to two US officials and one Western official, in what may be the first time such a weapon has been used in war.

What to know about the weapon: Known as a Multiple Independently-targetable Reentry Vehicle (MIRV), it carries a series of warheads that can each target a specific location, allowing one ballistic missile to launch a larger attack. MIRVs were developed during the Cold War to permit the delivery of multiple nuclear warheads with a single launch. The Minuteman III, which is the US intercontinental ballistic missile, is armed with MIRVs. The Russian missile attack on Dnipro was not armed with nuclear warheads, but it used a weapon designed for nuclear delivery to instead launch conventional weapons.

On Thursday, Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said this was the first use of the experimental intermediate-range ballistic missile “based on” Russia’s RS-26 Rubezh missile model, though Singh declined to identify the specific type of missile or its capabilities.

Tom Karako, the director of the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), says it’s likely the first time a MIRV has been used in combat.

The use of this type of missile armed with conventional warheads is an escalation of Russia’s nuclear saber-rattling, Karako said, which includes the recent update of its nuclear doctrine.

“This is a big rocket with payload capability — presumably MIRVs — and has the baggage associated with it of nuclear delivery vehicles,” he said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, in his first televised statement about the attack, described it as the “newest Russian medium-range missile system,” which consists of a “ballistic missile in non-nuclear hypersonic equipment.”

He said Russian missilemen call it “Oreshnik.”

Russia warned the United States ahead of the launch of its new mid-range ballistic missile, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Russian state media on Thursday.

The National Nuclear Risk Reduction Center manages a “24/7 bilateral NNRRC line with Russia, in operation for 35 years and currently used to transmit New Start Treaty notifications,” according to the US State Department.

Earlier on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that Moscow would issue warnings when using the new weapon. “When selecting targets for retaliation with systems like ‘Oreshnik’ on Ukrainian territory, we will offer peaceful residents, as well as citizens of friendly states present there, the opportunity to leave dangerous zones.”

He added: “We will do this for humanitarian reasons — openly, publicly, without fear of opposition from the enemy, who will also receive this information.”

Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh confirmed that Russia notified the US just before launch. She characterized the missile as “an experimental intermediate range ballistic missile” and said at a press briefing that it was “based on Russia’s RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile model.”

This post was updated with a statement from the Pentagon.

Russia’s use of a new, medium-range ballistic missile is “yet another concerning and worrying development,” the spokesperson for the United Nations Secretary-General said Thursday.

Russian President Vladmir Putin said Thursday that Moscow considers itself entitled to use weapons against military targets of countries that allow their weapons to be used against Russia.

Putin said the Ukrainian Armed Forces attacked targets in Russia’s Bryansk region with six US-made ATACMS missiles on Tuesday and later fired British-French Storm Shadow systems on the Kursk region.

Putin also claimed that Russian air defense systems repelled both attacks and “there were no casualties or significant damage.”

The US response: The United States has “seen this type of dangerous, reckless rhetoric before from President Putin,” Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters at a news briefing. “What we’re focused on is continuing to support Ukraine with what it needs” to fight Russia.

This post was updated with a response from the Pentagon.

US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink said the Russian strike on Dnipro shows Ukraine needs continued support until the end of the war.

The ambassador also noted the attack happened on Ukraine’s Day of Dignity and Freedom, which marks the date that the country’s 2004 Orange Revolution and 2013 Euromaidan both began.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin answers a question during the Valdai Discussion Club meeting in Sochi on November 7.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised statement Thursday a Russian strike in Ukraine was carried out by a “ballistic missile with a non-nuclear hypersonic warhead” with a medium range.

“In combat conditions, one of the newest Russian medium-range missile systems was also tested,” Putin said, referring to the strike on Dnipro, Ukraine. “In this case, with a ballistic missile in non-nuclear hypersonic equipment. Our missilemen called it ‘Oreshnik.’ The tests were successful. The launch goal was achieved.”

Putin also claimed Ukraine has “no means” to counter the new “Oreshnik” missiles.

This comes after a US official told CNN earlier on Thursday that Russia used an “experimental medium-range” ballistic missile in an attack on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro.

A medium-range missile can travel between 1,000 kilometers and 3,000 kilometers (620 miles to 1,860 miles), according to the Center for Arms Control and Anti-Proliferation.

A resident walks at the site of a Russian missile strike in Dnipro, Ukraine, on November 21, 2024.

Russia attacked the Ukrainian city of Dnipro with a “ballistic missile” with “a range of several thousand kilometers,” marking the first time Moscow used that specific type of weapon since the start of its invasion, according to the British government.

The spokesperson stopped short of calling the ballistic missile “intercontinental.”

Russia used an “experimental medium-range” ballistic missile in an attack on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, a US official told CNN earlier on Thursday — not an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), as the Ukrainian military has claimed.

The Kremlin has declined to comment on the matter.

There are four categories of ballistic missiles based on their range, according to the Center for Arms Control and Anti-Proliferation. A medium-range missile can travel between 1,000 kilometers and 3,000 kilometers (620 miles to 1,860 miles).

Henrik Pettersson in London contributed to this report.

Russia used an “experimental medium-range” ballistic missile in an attack on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, according to a US official.

Although the US has not publicly identified the specific type of weapon launched in the attack, the US was aware of the possibility of its use and warned Ukraine and other countries ahead of time, the official said. Russia likely only possesses a “handful of these experimental missiles,” the official said.

In addition, the source pointed out that Ukraine has withstood “countless attacks” from Russia, including from missiles with “significantly larger warheads” than the intermediate range ballistic missile launched at Dnipro. The “larger warheads” may be a reference to 1.5 ton glide bombs, half of which compromises the explosive warhead, that has decimated Ukrainian air defenses for months.

On Wednesday, the US announced another $275 million military aid package to Ukraine, including air defense missiles and other weapons. The Biden administration has nearly $7 billion left in authority to send military aid to Ukraine, which the White House has pledged to deliver before the end of the term.

Kyiv has accused Moscow of firing an ICBM at Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region early Thursday. However, two Western officials later told CNN the weapon appears to have been a shorter-range ballistic missile — not an ICBM.

The main difference between an ICBM and other types of ballistic missile is only in their respective ranges. As the name suggests, ICBMs can travel thousands of miles — crossing continents — whereas ballistic missiles have shorter and intermediate ranges.

But rather than focusing on the range of the missile, what matters instead is the explosive power packed by the missile — known as its “payload” — Fabian Hoffmann, a doctoral research fellow at the Oslo Nuclear Project, told CNN.

Although Russia’s strike was non-nuclear, the missile appeared to carry a “MIRV” payload, meaning it used multiple warheads to strike separate targets.

MIRVS, or Multiple Independently-targetable Reentry Vehicles, were developed during the Cold War to permit a missile to deliver multiple nuclear warheads to different targets.

Although the nuclear payload appeared to have been replaced with a non-nuclear one in this case, the use of the MIRV technology was intended to send a message, Hoffmann said.

Ukraine’s military accused Russia of launching an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) at the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Thursday, though a Western official has told reporters otherwise, and the Kremlin declined to comment.

It comes in a week of creeping escalation in the war between Russia and Ukraine. Here’s what we know:

• A large attack: Russia was “massively attacking” the Dnipropetrovsk region on Thursday morning, the head of the Ukrainian region’s military administration said. Two people were injured after houses were damaged, and a rehabilitation center for people with disabilities was also damaged in the attack, Serhiy Lysak said on Telegram. There were no reported casualties.

• Ukrainian allegations: Ukraine’s air force accused Russia of launching an intercontinental ballistic missile in an attack on the city of Dnipro on Thursday morning. CNN has not been able to verify the claim.

• A Western rebuttal: A Western official has told reporters that the missile launched by Russia was a ballistic missile, but not an ICBM. The official declined to further characterize the missile, saying that its impact was still being assessed.

• Russia stays silent: The Kremlin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov The Kremlin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on Kyiv’s accusation on Thursday morning. Later, the spokesperson for Russia’s foreign ministry, Maria Zakharova, was heard during a news conference Thursday being ordered not to discuss a major strike on Ukraine.

• A show of force: If Russia did indeed use an ICBM in its attack, it could be a message to the West that it has greater capabilities than previously displayed. This week has seen significant military operations and policy changes in both Ukraine and Russia, including both US and British-made missiles being fired into Russia by Ukraine. This prompted Russian President Vladimir Putin to update Russia’s nuclear doctrine — in a nuanced way, but still updating its policy to lower the threshold for use. The UK’s Defense Intelligence warned that Ukraine’s front lines are “less stable” than at any point since the earliest stages of Russia’s full-scale invasion more than 1,000 days ago on Thursday.

• Other countries could be targeted: A spokesperson for Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Moscow could target a major Western military base in Poland, as Russian officials continue to ramp up their rhetoric in an escalatory week. And Hungary’s Defense Minister Kristof Szalay-Bobrovniczky said the country will install an air defense system near its border with Ukraine, according to Reuters.

A Ukrainian security source provided photos of the debris from the attack on Dnipro, Ukraine, on November 21.

CNN has obtained images of debris from Russian missiles fired at Ukraine overnight.

A Ukrainian security source provided photos of the debris from the attack on Dnipro city. Kyiv has accused Russia of firing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) at Ukraine, which would likely mark the first time Moscow had used such a weapon in more than 1,000 days of war.

The fragments pictured do not necessarily all belong to one missile, the source said.

A Ukrainian security source provided photos of the debris from the attack on Dnipro, Ukraine, on November 21.

A Western official cast doubt on whether the missile was an ICBM. CNN has contacted weapons experts to review the photos with a view to providing independent analysis on the type of missile used.

Ukraine’s front lines are “less stable” than at any point since the earliest stages of Russia’s full-scale invasion more than 1,000 days ago, the United Kingdom’s Defense Intelligence has warned.

In an intelligence update Thursday, the agency said, “Russian territorial advances in Ukraine have accelerated through 2024,” bolstered by “the Russian leadership’s tolerance for casualties” and having more troops at its disposal than Ukraine’s military.

“The frontline is now less stable than at any point since the opening stages of the conflict,” said the agency, which is part of the UK’s Ministry of Defense.

Some background: The warning comes shortly after the Biden administration approved sending anti-personnel mines to Ukraine, in another major policy change this week seen as aiming at shoring up Ukraine’s faltering frontlines.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters in Laos on Wednesday that the decision was motivated by Russia’s changing tactics on the frontlines.

“They don’t lead with their mechanized forces anymore. They lead with dismounted forces who are able to close and do things to kind of pave the way for mechanized forces,” he said.

Austin said Ukraine’s military needs “things that can help slow down that effort.”

In an unusual departure from her ordinary format, the spokeswoman for Russia’s Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, took a phone call while she was fielding questions from reporters in a regular press briefing.

During that call, a male voice was heard telling her to not to discuss a major strike on Ukraine.

Watch how the call played out in real time:

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Russia's foreign ministry spokesperson ordered not to discuss reported ICBM strike during news conference

00:14 - Source: CNN

Ukraine said Thursday it was still trying to determine the type of missile that Russia had fired at it, in the latest escalation in the 1,000-day-old war.

Ukraine’s air force earlier accused Russia of firing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) at the city of Dnipro on Thursday morning. Countering this, a Western official told reporters on the sidelines of a summit of Asian nations’ defense ministers in Laos that the missile launched by Russia was a ballistic missile, but not an ICBM. The reason for the discrepancy with the Ukrainian military on the description of the missile was not immediately clear.

The strike proves that “Russia does not seek peace,” Tykhyi said. “To the contrary, it makes every effort to expand the war.”

Hungary will install an air defense system near its border with Ukraine, the country’s defense minister Kristof Szalay-Bobrovniczky said Wednesday, according to Reuters.

“We still trust that there will be peace as soon as possible, through diplomacy instead of a military solution,” Szalay-Bobrovniczky said in a video posted to Facebook, Reuters reported.

Hungary has long been critical of Western support for Ukraine, labeling those backing Kyiv as “pro-war.”

Last week, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said that “the right thing to do is end the war as soon as possible.”

On Thursday, the country’s Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said that the Hungarians were happy with the result of the recent US election due to President-elect Donald Trump’s stance on the conflict.

“Many among us hoped for big change thanks to American voters and victory by the pro-peace candidate. …. We’re very pleased with the outcome,” Szijjártó said.

The deck house of the American ballistic missile defence base to be integrated into the "Aegis Ashore" missile defense system, on the day of its inauguration, November 13, in Redzikowo, Poland.

A spokesperson for Russia’s Foreign Ministry has said Moscow could target a major Western military base in Poland, as Russian officials continue to ramp up their rhetoric in an escalatory week.

The air defense base opened in the Polish town of Redzikowo on the Baltic coast on November 13. Known as “Aegis Ashore,” the site holds US ballistic missiles and is part of a larger NATO missile shield designed to intercept incoming missiles.

Zakharova’s comments are the latest in a series of escalatory remarks from the Kremlin, following major policy shifts from Ukraine and its Western allies this week.

A strike on the city of Kryvyi Rih in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region has injured at least 26 people, a Ukrainian official said Thursday.

Serhiy Lysak, head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration, said at least 10 of the wounded are in hospital and two women are in serious condition. One has suffered cuts to her head, the other has a shrapnel wound to her abdomen.

The strike damaged an administrative building as well as five apartment buildings and three vehicles, he added.

In a post on Telegram, Lysak shared images showing a building with a partially collapsed roof and another with shattered windows.

Elsewhere in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine reported a “massive” overnight attack and accused Russia of firing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) at the region.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has responded to the Russian strike on Dnipro, claiming that the use of intercontinental ballistic missiles shows that President Vladimir Putin is “so afraid, he is already using new missiles.”

Ukraine’s military accused Russia of launching an intercontinental ballistic missile in a Thursday morning attack on the eastern region, while a western official said the missile was a ballistic missile, but not an ICBM.

It’s currently unclear if there are any casualties from the strike.

Zelensky added that expert examinations are underway on the type of missile but said that the weapon used had “all the characteristics: speed, altitude - of an intercontinental ballistic missile.”

Video obtained by CNN shows the moment missiles struck the Dnipro region early Thursday morning.

CNN has geolocated the video to Dnipro, but it’s unclear for the moment what type of weapon was used for the attack.

Ukraine accused Russia of launching an intercontinental ballistic missile on Thursday morning. A Western official said it was a ballistic missile, but not an ICBM.

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Video appears to show the moment of impact of Russian strikes on Dnipro, Ukraine

00:20 - Source: CNN

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova attends a news conference in Moscow, Russia, on April 4, 2023.

The spokesperson for Russia’s Foreign Ministry was heard during a news conference Thursday being ordered not to discuss a major strike on Ukraine.

In an unusual departure from her ordinary format, Maria Zakharova took a phone call while she was fielding questions from reporters in a regular press briefing. She answered the call and was clearly heard being told by a male voice not to discuss a missile strike in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, which Kyiv earlier accused Moscow of targeting in a missile strike Thursday.

It was not clear whether the hot-mic incident was staged, or whether Zakharova unintentionally revealed information about the overnight strike on Ukraine.

The exchange also appeared to reveal that the complex previously known as Yuzhmash was the target of the strike. Ukraine has said that Russia used an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) to target the city of Dnipro. A Western official said Thursday the missile launched by Russia was a ballistic missile, but not an ICBM.

Later, Russian state media TASS asked Zakharova for more details about the exchange.

“Before the briefing, there were questions about contradictory materials on the Internet. I checked with experts whether this was our subject. The answer came during the briefing – the Foreign Ministry does not comment. So there is no intrigue,” Zakharova told TASS.